Something New
by dialectical wiggins
Summary: Summary: What if Willow cast the marriage spell in "Something Blue" on Buffy and Faith? Alt season 4. Faith never went evil and is friends with the scoobies. Each chapter will take place during a different episode starting with "Something Blue."
1. Prologue: Something Blue

Summary: What if Willow cast the marriage spell in "Something Blue" on Buffy and Faith? Alt season 4 where Faith never went evil and is friends with the scoobies. I thought it would be neat if Buffy and Faith began to grow closer around the same time Willow realized she was gay. Warning: It's gonna be pretty fluffy and there will be Riley bashing in later chapters because eww.

Disclaimer: I own nothing; no profit will be made. Characters and original situations belong to Joss and some corporations. Some dialogue in this chapter is re-appropriated from "Something Blue," written by Tracey Forbes.

Timeline: Alt season 4. Faith has been a part of the scoobies and she never went evil. Each chapter will take place during a different episode starting with 4x09 "Something Blue."

This is my first fanfic, so please be gentle!

Rating: M.

**Prologue: Something Blue**

Willow was furiously pacing around Xander's basement, complaining about Buffy. All she wanted was to have a girl's night—god knows she needed one after Oz left. But no, Buffy left her the second Faith had called about Spike's escape! As if Faith needed help! Willow had pretty much gotten over her previously harbored jealousy over Faith, but tonight had just stirred up all those old emotions again, making her feel like Faith was Buffy's best friend as she was just...well, just another friend.

"Faith is more important than me, I get it" Willow said to an exasperated Xander.

"Will, you know they have to catch Spike. Right now, Faith needs Buffy."

"Well, Fine. Why doesn't she just go marry her?"

Xander thought he saw Willow's eyes go blue for a second, but he quickly shrugged it off, thinking it must be the light or something.

While Willow was complaining to Xander, Faith and Buffy had gone back to Giles' house to deliver Spike after easily recapturing him.

"Come on now, what's a bloke gotta do to get some blood around here! I told you everything I bloody well know!" Spike yelled from his prison in Giles' bathroom.

"Hey, shut the fuck up or I dust you!" Faith yelled from the living room.

"You don't got the stones!"

"You wanna fuckin bet?" Faith yelled back at him. Buffy placed a hand and on Faith's knee to calm her, but the feel of Buffy so close to her thigh actually made Faith get even more antsy.

_Damn_, she thought, turning to look at the blonde, _I thought I had this Buffy crush thing under control again_. She knew that she was just kidding herself, though—she would never have her feelings for Buffy under control, even though she knew there was no way the smaller slayer would ever return them.

As Giles went into the kitchen to get some blood for Spike, both slayers felt like they had been struck by lightning. Buffy suddenly felt an overwhelming love and devotion for her dark-haired counterpart, and it felt...right. Like it had been there all along, but something just made her realize it. Faith's feelings for Buffy hadn't changed that much, but now she felt an overwhelming confidence that the blonde shared her feelings and that they could always be together.

When Giles came out of the kitchen with Spike's mug of blood, he paused, noticing that his two slayers were awfully close. Buffy was sitting in Faith's lap, her arms wrapped around the brunette's neck.

"Oh Faithy, it's just so sudden. I don't know what to say..."

"Just say yes, B, and make me the happiest girl in the world."

Buffy turned towards Faith, gazing into those beautiful chocolate-colored eyes and sighed contentedly. "Oh Faith! Of course its yes!" she said before pressing her lips gently against Faith's, tasting the vanilla of the girl's lip gloss. Faith wrapped her arms tighter around Buffy, feeling the girl melt into her.

"I, uh..." Giles tried, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He had been having trouble seeing all day—he couldn't even read that truth spell he tried to cast on Spike earlier—surely he couldn't be seeing this right?

Buffy suddenly turned around and looked at Giles, "Giles! Faith and I are getting married!" she cried out as she showed him the ring on her finger. Hmm, now that she thought about it, when did Faith give her that ring? Faith was briefly puzzled, too. She didn't remember buying a ring... Oh well, both slayers thought, it doesn't matter. They quickly forgot about it as they returned their lips together, this time brushing their tongues against each other. Faith groaned as Buffy parted her lips, letting Faith's tongue explore her soft, wet mouth.

"Bloody hell..." Giles muttered, "I need to call Willow."

* * *

Giles, almost completely blind by now, was attempting to dull the sound of the slayers planing their wedding with copious amounts of scotch.

"We could have it in a cemetery B! Where we have so many memories together..."

"Awww, that's so sweet! It would have to be during the day though, I don't want to have to stop the ceremony to go slay." Buffy punctuated her statement with another flurry of kisses around Faith's face and neck. Faith groaned loudly as Buffy began to gently suck on her pulse point.

"Oh dear god! Please stop whatever it is you're doing now!" Giles yelled from his position on the couch.

Buffy was concerned, "What's the matter, Giles? I know this comes as a bit of a shock, but I hoped you would be more open minded..."

"Buffy, something is obviously terribly wrong. I'm...I'm completely blind for one thing..."

"Hey! What's going on in there? Somebody let me out!" Spike yelled from the bathroom, causing Buffy to slam the bathroom door closed.

After coming back into the living room with two wedding cake figurines, both brides, one blonde and one brunette, Buffy hummed _Here Comes the Bride_ as she returned to Faith's lap. She was just about to reacquaint their lips when Xander and Anya burst in, yelling about being chased by demons.

"Help me!" Xander cried out as he began to drag a bookshelf in front of the door. The slayers quickly got up and began to help barricade the house.

"What's wrong?"

"Demons!" Xander yelled, "So many demons!"

"Demons?" Faith asked, "Hey, maybe this has something to do with the G-man being blind?"

"Giles is blind?" Anya asked, walking over to where he was lying.

Giles sighed, "Yes, Anya, I'm quite blind. So...so many things are wrong..."

Xander noticed that Faith and Buffy were cuddling on the loveseat after helping barricade the door. "Uh...is this all a dream?" He asked, pinching himself.

Anya quickly noticed that the two slayers as well, "Why do you look like you're about to start giving each other orgasms?"

"Oh god, please make it stop," Giles moaned, reaching for more scotch.

Buffy pivoted in Faith's arms and turned to look at the others: "Faith and I are getting married!"

"Wha?" Xander managed as the two slayers began kissing each other deeply. "Wow, I'm so glad I'm not blind..."

Anya quickly threw a book at him and yelled "Hey!"

"Willow!" Xander suddenly yelled! "She called me a demon magnet and said Faith should marry Buffy!"

"She said I couldn't see anything..." Giles added, "Oh god, she did a spell..."

"So that's why you guys are acting all weird. Since Faith and I are slayers, we must have a natural immunity to it," Buffy reasoned.

"Go find Willow!" Giles yelled, "she doesn't even know what she's doing!"

* * *

At some point during their fight with the various demons that Xander had drawn to them, Faith had managed to land totally on top of Buffy, crushing their bodies together. Ignoring both the demon threat and Willow's sudden entrance, the two slayers hungrily crashed their lips together. Buffy's hot tongue explored Faith's mouth, taking her time to tangle with Faith's tongue. Buffy had never felt so turned on before; Faith's tongue in her mouth was ten times as arousing as anything she had ever done with anyone... Buffy groaned as she felt Faith's body press against hers. The slayers' bodies seemed to fit together so perfectly, like they were made for each other.

"Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken."

Buffy knew instantly something was different, but her arousal hadn't changed at all. She pulled her mouth back, and she instantly felt empty. No, she still wanted Faith's mouth against hers, but now she knew she couldn't have it... She was so confused. How could she want Faith to keep kissing her now that the spell was gone? What does that mean? Then she thought that Faith would be grossed out, that this might drive a wedge in their friendship. But shouldn't she be grossed out?

Faith quickly hopped off of Buffy, so afraid that the older girl would somehow know that it hadn't just been the spell that made Faith want to kiss her...so afraid that they couldn't be as close anymore. She had long since resigned herself to never being able to touch Buffy, but she knew that she couldn't live without the blonde in her life. God, how was she going to manage now that she had memories of kissing the blonde? Now that she knew what the inside of her mouth tasted like? She quickly helped Buffy up, searching her green eyes for confirmation that they were OK.

"Uh, so does this mean the wedding's off?" Faith joked. She sighed in relief when Buffy responded not with disgust or anger, but laughter. Everything would be ok as long as they were still friends, she thought. But goddamn it was going to be hard not to miss what she had had for that brief, spell-induced instant.

Buffy was extremely nervous, but hearing Faith joke made her feel better. _As long as we can get through tonight without it being weird, we're good,_ she thought. Then she could deal with these really confusing feelings later, when she was alone.

The slayers turned to the others, noticing that all the demons were gone. Willow was smiling sheepishly and said "whoops, my bad guys."

After going back to Giles' house to make sure he was ok, Willow apologized profusely to everyone and promised that she would make it up to them with large amounts of baked goods. Faith and Buffy had parted amicably, without much weirdness as all, and made plans to go slaying together the next night. Both girls were relieved and kind of surprised that the other didn't seem that freaked.

After they got back to their dorm room, Willow and Buffy starting talking as they were both still way too wired to go to sleep.

"I'm really sorry, Buffy. I mean, I know I didn't mean to cast a spell on you and Faith...to make you guys make out and everything..."

Buffy blushed as she remembered the feel of Faith's soft tongue against her's, how their bodies seemed to lock together perfectly...Buffy shook the thought away, "I know you're sorry, but it's fine..." _Kinda really fine_, she thought.

"What was it like?" Willow asked, not sure why she was so curious. For some reason, she was having trouble getting the image of Faith and Buffy kissing out of her head.

"What was what like?" Buffy thought she knew, but really didn't want to have to try explaining it in a way that wouldn't make her sound like she wished she was still kissing Faith.

"Ya, know," Willow grinned sheepishly, "Kissing... a girl."

"Well, I was sorta under the effects of the spell, so it felt amazing" Buffy admitted, "it was like kissing a guy, but I don't know, softer, gentler, yet more powerful..." She suddenly realized that she had probably said too much and added "but I think that was just 'cause the spell; I mean, I thought Faith and I were gonna be married so we were totally in love." The last word made her breath hitch as her subconscious wondered how much of that was the spell. God, she was so confused.

Willow had turned slightly pink and had a kinda faraway look in her eyes. "Hmm..." She quickly snapped out of it, though, "A..anyway, I'm sorry, I was just upset 'cause of Oz and everything...I just wanted the pain to go away..."

"Will, its ok, I get it. Everything turned out fine," Buffy assured the budding wiccan. _Except now I've got all these confusing thoughts to somehow work out..."_

"I know, its just...I shouldn't mess with that stuff when I'm upset.." Willow added.

"That's probably a good idea..."

"And I shouldn't let myself get so upset over a guy!" Willow said a little louder, realizing that this was the real reason she was so upset with herself. "God, guys are nothing but a huge pain..."

"Hey, I couldn't agree with ya more there," Buffy agreed, remembering her recent encounter with Parker and all the baggage that went along with her relationship with Angel. "I'll tell ya what, why don't we make a deal: no guys for awhile?"

Willow smiled, "A long while?"

Buffy nodded, "Definitely."


	2. Chapter 1: Hush

Notes: Thank you so much to everyone who read the first part, especially those that reviewed! Here is the first full chapter, which takes place during "Hush."

**Chapter 1: Hush**

The next morning, Buffy really didn't feel any sort of closure whatsoever on the whole 'kissing Faith was amazing' problem, but decided it was best not to worry about it too much. It was strange— she remembered that she had definitely dreamed about Faith, but she couldn't remember anything specific. Or else she was trying to repress it...

Since she hadn't gotten much sleep after the whole spell debacle, she was still totally exhausted when she sat down next to Willow for their psych class. She kept getting distracted, like she was zoning out, every time Professor Walsh started talking. She was saying something about communication when she suddenly heard her name.

"Buffy Summers, come on down to the front here."

Buffy paused for a moment, not understanding, but slowly started to walk down the steps. _She's never had a student volunteer before..._

"Lie down on my desk."

"And one more. You there, in the front row, come join us."

Buffy tentatively laid back on the desk when she realized that Professor Walsh had just asked Faith to join her. Why was Faith in her class that morning? This didn't make any sense...

"Two perfectly normal college girls, one assumes."

Buffy gasped when Faith laid on top of her, just like she had the night before in the crypt. All the contours of her body felt the same and Buffy was once again amazed at how Faith could be both so strong and yet so soft at the same time. Supporting all of Faith's weight with her body felt amazing... especially since the girl's breasts were resting right on top of her's...

She looked up and stared straight into Faith's deep brown eyes and could see the love in them and it felt right, just like it did the night before. For some reason, a phrase appeared in her head and she asked Faith "if you kiss me, will it make the sun go down?"

"The fuck does that mean, B?"

"I...dunno...I-" She was cut off by Faith's soft lips pressed against her own. She groaned as she felt the fire from the dark slayer empty into her. She quickly parted her lips, letting Faith dip her powerful tongue into her mouth. Faith was gentle, slowly exploring Buffy's mouth before tussling with her tongue. Buffy saw sparks as Faith's tongue slipped against hers and she let out a small moan.

Faith slowly pulled away and Buffy turned her head at the class, suddenly realizing that everyone else was gone. Faith had begun to back away, but Buffy pulled the brunette back into her, kissing her deeply and running a hand under her tank top, trailing her fingers over Faith's smooth skin.

As she moved her hand upwards to greet Faith's breast, the dark haired slayer moaned softly. When Faith's tongue pushed deeper into her mouth, Buffy began pushing her hips up into Faith's, their bodies fitting so snugly together...

Suddenly, she was in the hallway and Faith was gone. She glanced around in terror, not knowing what could have happened. Up ahead, she saw a little girl holding a box. She was chanting something:

_"Can't even shout_

_Can't even cry_ _The gentlemen are coming by..._

"Wha?" she muttered as she suddenly woke up, everyone back in the class, Faith no where to be seen. Willow was smirking at her; she had obviously fallen asleep during the lecture. Willow began to tease her, but noticed Buffy looked shaken. Buffy wasn't really sure if it had been the Faith part or the scary demony part that unnerved her the most. She knew she should call Giles about the slayery portion, but the Faith part was harder to figure out. She sighed. The brunette slayer was definitely not leaving her head anytime soon. _Oh well,_ she thought, _at least a new demony threat will get my mind off this weird Faith obsession._

She and Willow walked over to the student center after successfully avoiding their Psych TA. He always seemed like he wanted to talk to Buffy after class; they had a couple semi-friendly conversations earlier in the semester, but Buffy really didn't want to talk to him. She thought he was kinda creepy; what kind of a TA tries to hit on his freshman students? Plus, now she had the no-guys pact with Willow to think about.

Buffy was glad she had a chance to talk to Willow right after class, although she carefully avoided any Faith related subjects since she wasn't quite ready to delve into that with anyone else yet. After Willow left for her Wicca group, Buffy went up to their dorm room to call Giles.

"Hello?"

"Giles, its me. Hey, I just had this bizarre slayer-y dream..."

"Did it by chance include a little girl's nursery rhyme?"

"Yes..."

"Ah, I'm afraid it probably is something, then. Faith is here right now and she had the same dream."

"Oh," Buffy thought, immediately wondering when exactly Faith's dream kicked in. It would just be the slayer-premonition parts that they would share, right?

"As I told her, I'll look into it, but I don't know the gentlemen offhand."

"Okay, tell Faith I'll see her tonight for patrol."

"Yes, oh, wait a minute.." Giles covered the receiver for a second. "Buffy, Faith says she'll meet you when the sun goes down."

Buffy's heart began to beat a hundred miles an hour. "Wha...oh, yeah, of..of course. Bye Giles!" she managed to sputter before slamming the phone down. _Damnit, so she had the whole dream too. What does that mean? Is it just leftover mojo from Willow's spell or our slayer connection?_ They had had a couple of slayer dreams together before, but they never involved kissing or...rubbing... Buffy blushed. If it was her subconscious, then why did Faith have that part of the dream too? Unless she shared some of those feelings...Buffy quickly shut down that avenue of thought. _No, I can't let myself go there...I've got to get these feelings for Faith under control. Faith and I are friends! And I'm straight! I am not even considering whether or not Faith might be interested or how I kinda really want her to be...oh god!_ She collapsed on her bed, her thoughts running through her head way too fast.

()()()()()()()()

[The next day, post Gentlemen stealing everyone's voices]

Faith was walking slightly behind Buffy, both of them looking around for the creepy things that Giles had showed them earlier that day.

Neither of them had mentioned their slayer dream since Faith had made that joke through Giles on the phone the day before. Faith had been planning on giving Buffy a hard time about it when they went slaying last night, but never even mentioned it. Faith wasn't sure exactly why she hadn't made jokes about it, but she just somehow knew not to push it. It had felt so real—and to be honest, it had really turned her on.

So they had fallen into their normal friendly banter, and though there was definitely some major sexual tension in the air, neither of them addressed it. The thing is, Faith had always felt the tension, but had always diffused it with jokes. Now, though, she had the smallest inkling of a hope that maybe, just maybe, Buffy might feel something too. She had never let herself think that before, but after Willow's spell and then that dream, she let herself hope, knowing that in all likelihood she would be disappointed. But she figured her best chance was to give Buffy some space and let the blonde figure out what she wanted. She had wanted Buffy to know the dream was a slayer dream—that she too had dreamed about them coming damn close to fucking—so she had made the joke through Giles on the phone. Buffy _had _to know she was at least somewhat interested, anyway—they all knew that Faith swung both ways plus she had been flirting with Buffy for over a year straight! Surely the blonde couldn't be _that_ dense?

Of course, then they had woken up this morning without their voices and some kind of creepy monsters running around town, which had kind of put a damper on any progress with Buffy since all their time was spent trying to track these guys down. Plus it's not exactly like they could have a conversation about it, either. Faith looked up ahead at Buffy, trying her best not to stare at the girl's ass too much, although she was powerless to stop herself from taking a glance occasionally. Or most of the time...

Finally she manged to look up and noticed a really ugly looking demony dude running right at Buffy and stopped him with a quick kick to the jaw. Buffy turned around, mouthed a thanks, and the two slayers took off after another of the straight jacket wearing demons who was running towards a clocktower.

()()()()()()()()

"Fuck B, I am beat," Faith announced, collapsing onto a bed in Buffy and Willow's dorm room. It had taken them awhile to find the box that was in their slayer-dream, and it was now nearly five in the morning. Since the clock tower was so close to campus, Buffy suggested that Faith just stay over with her and Faith had readily agreed. The two slayers were slightly concerned when Willow wasn't in the room, but there was no sign of a struggle, so they figured she must have just gone over to Giles's and fell asleep researching or something.

"God, if we didn't have to fight those commandos along with the monsters, it would've been done so much faster..." Buffy complained.

"Yeah, I can't believe that one's your TA, B! That's pretty wicked."

Buffy chuckled, "Yeah, class might be kinda awkward next week what with you punching him in the jaw..."

"Nah, I doubt he recognized you; it was all dark 'n shit."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, yawning. "Hey, do you want something to sleep in?"

Faith grinned, "I guess, 'tho I usually just sleep in the nude..."

Buffy blushed and punched Faith's arm playfully, briefly thinking to herself that she might not have a problem with that before shaking those thoughts away. She handed Faith a pair of gym shorts, figuring that she could wear those along with the tank top she had on under her leather jacket. She stepped out to go to the bathroom and change, leaving Faith in the room. When Buffy came back in, wearing her favorite pair of pajamas, Faith just started laughing. "Oh my god, what are those, B?"

Buffy pouted, "are you making fun of my yummy sushi pajamas?"

Faith tried to speak but once again fell into convulsive laughter. She thought the pajamas were absolutely perfect for Buffy._ She's so dorky... but somehow still so hot_, her subconscious added.

"Hey!" Buffy challenged, "they are comfortable and stylish!"

"Yeah, you're right B, I don't know what I was thinking," Faith let out as her laughter finally died down, "very stylish," she added a slight eye roll to the last statement.

"That's better," Buffy said, choosing to ignore Faith's sarcasm, instead sticking her chin out in victory.

Faith just grinned, _Fuck she's adorable... ugh, I can't believe I just thought the word 'adorable'...what is she doing to me lately!_

"Think red would mind if I use her bed?" Faith asked, kinda hoping that Willow had some super-strict no exceptions rule against people sleeping in her bed and she would be forced to sleep with...er, next to Buffy.

Buffy thought the answer was no, but she kinda wanted Faith to be a little closer to her tonight. She still wasn't really sure what she felt for Faith, but she knew that she wanted...something. It was so late, they were still buzzed from the slaying... surely it couldn't hurt to have Faith beside her? Friends did that right? She had shared a bed with Willow before after all.

_Yeah, _she thought, not quite fooling herself, _I just want Faith beside me for friendshippy reasons_. So she quickly thought up an excuse: "well, if she just fell asleep at Giles's, she might come back early and want to sleep a bit," she said, hoping her explanation wasn't too transparent.

"No, bigs, I can grab the floor," Faith said, not wanting to be too obvious, but really, really hoping that Buffy's excuse might result in them sharing a bed.

Buffy tried to read Faith's expression, trying to figure out is she really wanted the floor or not. _It might be weird after the spell and the dream to sleep in the same bed... but fuck it, _she decided,_ I just want her close..._ "Oh, you can sleep in my bed, Faith, I don't mind..." Buffy said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Faith tried to keep her face calm, but she was elated. "Five by Five," she shrugged and hopped into the blonde slayer's bed. "I'll warn ya tho, I tend to hog the covers—not really used to sharin' ya know?"

Buffy grinned, "I think I can hold my own," she said as she turned the lights off and climbed into bed with Faith. They lay close to each other—the double bed not giving them much room to maneuver—so that their arms would brush against each other whenever they adjusted their positions, causing a slight spark. They both fell asleep very quickly, though, exhausted by the day's slaying.

Once they drifted off, their sleeping bodies quickly found each others arms. As if of one mind, the girls turned toward each other in their sleep and wrapped their arms around each other. Buffy shifted closer and eventually buried her head in Faith's chest while Faith wrapped her arms tightly around the smaller slayer. They both sighed as they drifted into a deeper, more restful sleep.

()()()()()()()()

The next morning, Willow sprinted up the stairs to change her clothes, which were kinda nasty after spending the night in the laundry room. She and her new friend Tara had fallen asleep as they waited for their voices to come back, which Willow knew meant that Buffy and Faith had been able to slay the Gentlemen.

The laundry room didn't exactly have the most comfortable accommodations, but she and Tara had made the best of it. Willow had been kinda embarrassed when she woke up completely on top of Tara, but the other girl had seemed fine with it...

She had made plans with Tara to meet up that morning for breakfast: she was really excited to actually be able to talk to Tara, plus the spells and the hiding had worked up quite the appetite.

When she entered her and Buffy's dorm room, she was fairly shocked to see her roommate in bed with Faith. The two slayers were...close. Willow saw that Buffy was sorta tucked into Faith: her head rested on Faith's chest, and Faith's arms were wrapped tightly around her body. Willow thought it was odd—she never really took Faith for a cuddler, plus they seemed kinda intimate for friends. Then she thought back to how she had apparently spent the night all cuddled up with _her_ new friend. Willow shrugged, decided that maybe it wasn't that weird after all, grabbed some clothes, and headed to the shower.

()()()()()()()()

"Hey, Will!"

Willow turned around from the cafeteria table and saw Buffy and Faith walking towards her and Tara, their trays piled high with food. _They look like they've recovered from their little cuddle-fest_, Willow thought with a smile as the two slayers sat down across from her and Tara.

"Uh, hey Buffy, Faith." Willow said, kinda surprised to find herself miffed about having her 1-on-1 time with Tara interrupted, "this is my new friend, Tara."

Tara smiled shyly at the two girls as they sat down, picking up a weird vibe from them: they were close, connected in some way. _Maybe they're lovers? _Tara wondered. She could tell they were really close, but then again, they might just have been close friends forever... Tara decided she wouldn't bring it up to Willow since that might lead to a conversation that Tara wanted to wait a bit for... _I wish I had better gaydar, _Tara thought to herself sullenly.

Buffy waved at Tara, "Hi, I'm Buffy." Tara waved back and said "Hi" back to the other blonde. Faith nodded at Tara, "Hey, I'm Faith, how's it going?" Tara nodded back shyly and greeted the brunette.

Faith quickly gave Tara a once over. She had noticed the way this girl and Willow had been staring at each other when she and Buffy walked over, and quickly guessed that this Tara was at least somewhat attracted to Willow. Faith had always prided herself on her gaydar. _'Course, _she thought, _Red's totally oblivious I'm sure..._

Faith realized she might have to suggest something to Willow, thinking that if Buffy saw her best friend digging another girl... well, that wouldn't hurt her cause. After Buffy had woken up snuggled against her, Faith had conceded to herself that she was going to have to do something about these now overwhelming feelings she had for Buffy, although she knew she had to tread carefully since Buffy seemed like she pretty much exclusively drove stick. _Or at least she thinks she only drives stick_, Faith thought with a smirk. Then, on top of everything else, Faith didn't exactly know how the whole relationship thing even worked, always priding herself on her ability to just get some and get gone. Girl, guy, it didn't matter. All she knew is that she wanted more with Buffy...

"Did you stay over at Giles' last night?" Buffy asked Willow, interrupting Faith's reverie. Unbeknownst to the others, the question caused Tara's heart to sinkas she wondered if maybe this Giles guy was Willow's boyfriend.

Willow chuckled in response to Buffy's question. "Actually, me and Tara here spent the night in the Stevenson laundry room..."

Buffy looked at her confusedly. "What? Why?"

Willow began to tell the story: "Well, the heart-collecting monsters were chasing us and we ran in there. It was really scary—they were banging on the door, trying to get in. So I tried to magic a soda machine to block the door, but I couldn't, 'cause, ya know, I can't really float anything more than a pencil... Anyway, then Tara figured out what I was trying to do, and she grabbed my hand so that we could magic it together. She's a really powerful witch—we met in Wicca group, but it turns out that she actually knows what she's talking about unlike the rest of them... Anyway, Tara's amazing and we easily magicked the machine over the door so the monsters couldn't get in!"

Willow paused for breath. Buffy grinned at the typical Willow babble while Tara felt herself blush about what Willow said."I-I'm not that powerful..." She told Buffy and Faith.

Willow just smiled at Tara's modesty. "Well, I think she is. At least, we're powerful together..." Tara blushed again and smiled at Willow's words. "Anyways," Willow started up again, "so, I knew the monsters wouldn't be dead until we had our voices back, so Tara and I grabbed some laundry, made a little makeshift bed, and slept there on the laundry room floor."

"Sounds uncomfortable as hell" Faith remarked.

"Nah, I was good," Willow responded without thinking, "I just used Tara here as my pillow."

Faith grinned at the witches, arching her eyebrows. She saw that Tara was still blushing fiercely. _Damn, I bet Tara had a good night_, she thought,now positive the blonde was into Willow.

Buffy chuckled nervously, thinking about her own Faith pillow last night.

"I-It wasn't that u-uncomfortable," Tara added. She and Willow exchanged a quick embarrassed smile.

_I bet it wasn't, _Faith thought to herself, her mind also drifting to how Buffy had used her as a pillow last night...

"H-how did you k-know the monsters w-were dead when we got our voices back?" Tara asked Willow, suddenly curious about how much she knew about them. She thought there was something the other three weren't telling her. She really didn't want to pry, but was pretty curious.

"Oh," Willow replied, "Our friend Giles figured out that they were fairytale monsters. They steal people's voices so they can't scream and then they cut out their hearts. They, uh, die whenever someone screams."

"Oh." Tara wanted to find out if this Giles was Willow's boyfriend or not, "Does G-Giles go to school here?"

She was momentarily taken aback when the other three girls started laughing.

"Nah, Giles is older than all of us," Buffy explained.

"Really, really old," Faith added.

Willow turned to Tara to explain, "he was the librarian at our old high school. He's kind of a father figure to all of us... and he, uh, knows about monsters and magic and stuff."

"Oh," Tara smiled, relieved that he wasn't Willow's boyfriend, "cool."

"So you're a witch, huh?" Buffy asked Tara, trying to change the subject away from slayer-related stuff.

"Yeah, I p-practice a bit. I...I'm really not that p-powerful..." Tara said again, not wanting to misrepresent herself. She thought it was a little odd that these girls were so cool about witchcraft and magic. "D-do either of you practice?" she asked, figuring that if Willow did, they might too.

"Nah, just Red here," Faith said.

After discussing Willow's magic skills some more, the girls lapsed into a comfortable silence while they finished their breakfasts. Tara was amazed at how much food Buffy and Faith ate for girls so skinny. She definitely thought there was more to them than was readily apparent at first glance. And they seemed so comfortable with each other, too. _I bet they're lovers, _Tara thought.

After they had finished, Faith and Buffy got up. "Me and Faith are gonna go check in with Giles, make sure everything is good with the Gentlemen."

"Ok, see you later," Willow said, "I've got class this afternoon, so I'll probably just see ya tonight."

"K, Bye. Nice to meet you, Tara." Buffy smiled at the girl, happy that Willow found a friend she could do witchy stuff with.

"Later Red; Tar." Faith said, not quite happy with her nickname for Tara, but thinking it would have to do until she thought of something better.

"Tara seems pretty nice," Buffy noted as they walked out.

"Yeah, I'm sure she and Willow are gonna have fun doing...spells"

"God, how do you make everything sound so perverted?"

Faith shrugged, "it's a curse, B"

Buffy grinned and rolled her eyes, her hand brushing against Faith's as they left the cafeteria. She reached out as if about to take Faith's hand, but chickened out at the last minute.

_Damnit_, she thought, _I just wanted to hold her hand! After we woke up snuggling together! What is wrong with me? Faith is just a friend and I'm straight! _She sighed, realizing that it was getting harder and harder to convince herself.

TBC


	3. Chapter 2: Doomed

_Thanks again to everyone who read/reviewed! This chapter takes place during 4x11 "Doomed," and picks up right after the earthquake._

**Chapter 2: Doomed**

Right after the quake had almost buried her under a pile of Tolstoy novels in the library, Willow rushed back to her dorm to see if Buffy thought it might be apocalypse-related. She got there just as Buffy was getting off the phone with Giles.

"You talk to Giles about the quake?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied, "I dunno why, but it just feels apocalypsey, ya know? Faith's gonna meet me here and we're gonna go check in with him. Plus he said he had some info on the solider boys." She paused, suddenly remembering something she meant to tell Willow earlier about the commandos: "Oh my god Will, I totally forgot! You know our psych TA?"

Willow nodded, "the one who keeps awkwardly trying to talk to you after class?"

"Yeah! Anyway, so he is totally one of the commandos! Me and Faith saw him that night we killed the gentlemen. We kinda got into a scuffle with the commandos and Faith punched him."

Willow giggled.

Buffy smiled and continued, "yeah, it was pretty awesome. I totally forgot to tell you. Anyway, I hope he didn't notice me—might hurt that psych final grade, right?"

Willow's laughter subsided and she nodded, "yeah, definitely."

"Anyway, so what have you been up to?"

"Just studyin' for Lit class. I was thinking about giving Tara a call and seeing if she wanted to try out some spells later on."

"Cool. Hey, she seemed really nice. You guys been hanging out much?"

Willow smiled widely. "Yeah, she's amazing—we talked for hours yesterday. She's like the nicest person ever..." Willow cut herself off, realizing that she was about to verbalize a little more than she was ready to admit to herself.

Buffy was a little surprised at how taken Willow seemed with her new friend. "Cool, I'm glad. Hey, you should invite her to hang out with all of us—it'd be nice to get to know her more. Oh, and Will? If you guys are gonna keep hanging out and stuff, you might as well tell her about me and Faith being slayers. I mean, if she's a witch, she's gotta be pretty knowledgeable about all that stuff anyway."

"Really? I...I figured I'll tell her eventually, but I didn't know if you would have wanted me to wait or not what with the 'top secretness' and all...but yeah, I'll tell her soon." Willow babbled, happy that Buffy seemed to accept her new friend so easily. A part of her kinda wanted to keep Tara just to herself, but she also wanted her to be a part of the gang, too. Plus, having another witch around might not be such as bad idea...

As if she had read Willow's mind, Buffy added "besides, another witch might be nice for slayage purposes."

The girls turned their heads as their door opened and Faith strutted in wearing her standard leather pants and tank top. Buffy had to suppress some momentary thoughts about the her ample cleavage before greeting her.

"Sup B, Red. Hey, so I just heard about this aftershock party going down at one of the dorms tonight."

Willow and Buffy exchanged a knowing glance. "Porter?" Buffy asked.

"That's the one. Apparently they're still all blacked out and shit. Some guy from their frat told me I should go." Buffy felt a stab of jealousy that some guy would invite Faith to a party.

"Anyway," continued Faith, "he was a huge tool, but the party sounds kinda cool. You guys down?" Buffy felt herself relax, inwardly chastising herself for being so jealous.

Willow nodded and Faith "Yeah, that sounds great. Maybe I'll call Tara and invite her, too."

Faith smiled, "Yeah, totally. You in B?"

Buffy shrugged, "Sure, after we talk to Giles?" She thought that an evening partying with Faith would do nothing to quell the confusing emotions that she had been developing about the dark slayer, but she definitely still wanted to do it.

"Five by Five. Let's see what's up with the G-man and then go party! We'll meet you and blondie there?" she asked Willow.

Willow chuckled. Sometimes it took Faith a few tries before she found a nickname that she liked for someone she had just met. "Yeah, sure. About 9-ish?"

"Yeah, that should give G-man plenty of time to tell us what's what with the quake. Ready B?" Faith held out her arm like she was a lady at a Victorian ball waiting for a gentlemen escort. She was a little surprised when Buffy actually slipped her arm into hers, but obviously very pleased..

"M'lady" Buffy joked, her heart starting to beat faster as she locked arms with Faith.

Willow didn't even notice, being too preoccupied with calling Tara.

()()()()()()()()()()

It was a little after 9 when Willow and Tara got to Porter dorm and they were a little surprised to see Faith and Buffy already there with drinks in their hands. Willow thought Buffy seemed a little...clumsy.

"Will! Tara!" Buffy yelled out a little too excitedly as she saw the witches moving towards her. She would have spilled her drink while gesturing wildly had Faith not extended a hand to steady her. The slayers unconsciously exchanged a quick smile at the contact before turning to Willow and Tara.

"Hey, what's up?" Faith greeted the two witches, noticing with a smirk that they had been holding hands as they walked over.

"Will! Tara!" Buffy said again, a little too loudly, "You guys have got to try this drink Faith makes. Its a mo.." she turned to Faith and cocked her head inquisitively, "a mohee?"

Faith rolled her eyes, "a Mojito, B."

"Yes!" Buffy cried out excitedly. Faith grinned at how the blonde slayer's eyes lit up, Willow and Tara just smiled at the exchange.

"You guys been here long?" Willow asked Faith, gesturing at Buffy, who seemed a little too buzzed for how early in the evening it was.

"Like an hour," Faith replied, shaking her head at Buffy's low tolerance, "G-man didn't have much to say. He doesn't think the world's gonna end, though."

"Oh, good. I'm kind of attached to it," Willow joked.

Tara was puzzled, "W-was there a possibility that it w-would end?"

"We thought the quake might have been something evily," Willow explained.

"Oh," Tara nodded, still looking kind of puzzled.

"Hey, it's kinda loud in here, you guys want to go out on the front porch?" Willow asked.

"Yes, porch!" Buffy said excitedly, "but first Faith needs to make me another mojito!" She grinned, proud at herself for pronouncing it right. She looked at Faith happily and the brunette just smiled back.

"Five by five. I'll go grab some drinks and meet you guys out there." Faith walked over to the frat's makeshift bar as the other three struggled towards the door. After she mixed the drinks, she did a couple of shots before heading outside. Whenever she drank with Buffy, she always tried to stay a couple drinks ahead to make up for the blonde's low tolerance. She was feeling pretty good now, partly because of the alcohol and partly because of how hilarious Buffy was being. Faith always thought Buffy was pretty funny when she was drunk. Well, except that time she had turned into cave Buffy...

That had been fucking hilarious.

She expertly carried the four drinks outside, turning down offers for help from a couple of guys, and sat down with Willow, Tara, and Buffy. When she sat down, they were talking about some guy from high school that they had just seen.

"-then I tutored him senior year," Willow was explaining to Tara.

"Faith!" Buffy squealed when she saw the dark slayer approach with the drinks. Buffy grabbed one, took a sip and scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Blech," Buffy managed, pushing it away. "Faaaith," she complained, "this one tastes like almost all alcohol..."

"That would be mine, B," Faith replied, swapping the glass for a more sugary, brighter colored one.

After taking a sip from the new glass, Buffy was all smiles again. "Much better, F!"

Faith grinned and shook her head. "So you guys run into an old friend in there?"

"A kid from high school named Percy." Willow told her.

Buffy suddenly remembered who he was and started laughing, "Oh! I know! He was all nice to you after vamp Willow nearly made with the killing, right?"

"W-what?" Tara asked, "vamp as in v-vampire?"

Willow took a deep, hopeful breath. She hadn't quite worked up the courage to broach the slayer subject yet, but figured that if Tara knew all about witchcraft, she probably knew about vampires, too. "Yeah, our friend Xander's kinda-girlfriend Anya and I cast this spell once and it went all wacky and I accidentally ended up bringing a vampire version of myself from another dimension to this one..." She looked at Tara, hoping that the blonde wouldn't think she was crazy.

"W...wow." Tara managed, "w-what was vampire you like?"

"Umm," Willow blushed, "Well..."

"She was all dominatrix-y," Faith cut in, "she wore this skintight leather all over..." Buffy started giggling again at Faith's description.

Willow blushed brighter, but nodded. "Pretty much..."

"Leather?" Tara managed to choke out, also blushing bright red.

Faith grinned at Tara's reaction. _Yep, this girl totally has the hots for Red._ "Yeah, and she had this corset thing that made her boo-"

"Anyway!" Willow interrupted, "she was also a huge bad ass and she apparently did something to Percy because he went from pushing me around to being really scared of me."

Tara didn't like the thought of anyone being mean to Willow, but she was beyond curious about Willow's vampire self. "What did you d-do about the v-vampire you?"

"Oh, we sent it back to its own dimension," Willow explained, "I couldn't kill it 'cause it was...me, ya know?" Tara nodded.

Buffy, who was too busy laughing about Willow's vamp self to really pay attention to the conversation, quickly added, "and then the vampire Will kept trying to make out with our dimension's Will..."

Willow's eyes went huge. She glared at an oblivious Buffy as she snorted and laughed about the two Willows. Tara was speechless.

Faith started laughing too, although she thought that Tara's reaction was the funniest part of the whole thing... _It'd be like somebody telling me about a gay, leather-wearing Buffy from another universe... _

_Hmm..._

She decided to file that thought away in the sexual fantasies part of her brain and quickly polished off her drink.

She was about to go get another one when she heard a scream coming from the house. The four girls turned towards the door and saw that it was Percy. He ran outside with his girlfriend, screaming to her about finding a body inside.

"A body?" Buffy asked confusedly.

"Stay here, B. I'll go check it out." Faith replied, thinking that if there was something there, a drunken Buffy might get hurt trying to fight it. Faith ducked into the house as the other girls tried to ask Percy about what he had found. Unfortunately, he was too busy crying to give them anything substantial.

When Faith came back out, she motioned at the other girls and showed them a symbol she had drawn on a piece of paper. "This mean anything to anyone?"

Buffy shook her head and immediately felt lightheaded and had to sit down. The witches also shook their heads no. "I guess we should ask Giles about it in the morning," Willow suggested.

Faith nodded and turned to Buffy, who was sitting down with her head in her hands. "B, you ok?" she said worriedly.

"I feel... spin-y" the blonde announced.

Smiling, Faith helped her up and put an arm around her to steady her balance, "alright, time to get you home."

"Yeah, guess the party's over," Willow said dejectedly, "finding bodies tends to ruin the vibe."

Tara just nodded, "yeah."

Willow decided she didn't want to leave Tara quite yet, though. "Hey, do you want to go get a coffee? It's still kinda early..."

Tara smiled widely, "I-I'd love to."

"Great, we'll see you later," she told the slayers. "You guys gonna be ok?"

"Five by five," Faith responded, Buffy still leaning on her, "B here just needs some sleep."

Buffy laughed and nodded her head, "sleep... good."

"Oh man, are you turning into a cave woman again? C'mon B, let's go visit the tiny little people!"

Buffy pouted at Faith's joke, causing the dark slayer to grin even wider. _Anyone ever tell you how unbelievable cute that look is, B? _Buffy couldn't hold it, though, and quickly burst into giggles again.

In fact, Buffy giggled for most of the walk back to her dorm room as Faith kept steadying her. When they got into her room, Buffy fell back onto her bed and looked up at Faith, who was standing by the doorway. Buffy realized that Faith was probably about to go, and, in her inebriated state, decided she was going to stop that from happening.

She patted the bed beside her, motioning for the girl to sit down. While she was only semi-conscious of her actions—and her nerves were enforced by the alcohol—she still knew that what she wanted right now probably extended beyond the typical boundaries of friendship. But she didn't care. So she was drunk and sleepy and she wanted to get snuggly with Faith—what was so wrong with that!

As Buffy beckoned Faith toward her, a part of Faith realized that she should probably go home since she didn't know if she could control herself, but she was just buzzed enough not to care. Just the thought of more contact with Buffy, however slight, had her excited. When she sat down, Buffy immediately leaned into her, resting her head on top of Faith's shoulder, sighing contentedly.

She thought about how sweet Faith had been to her all night. "Thanks for walking me home" she said quietly.

"No prob, B. Can't have some vamps trying to jump a wasted slayer."

Buffy giggled. "Hey! How come you're not drunk?" She asked accusingly, "you drank as many mo...mojitos as I did!"

Faith chuckled, "yeah, and I did some shots, too. I can just handle my booze better, B..."

Buffy leaned harder into Faith, still giggling a little. "Hey, maybe you're drunk and you just don't know it..."

Faith laughed and shook her head, "Nah, five by five here, B."

Buffy frowned as the room started to spin a little. "Well, I am not five by five...I'm like... two by three tops." She groaned as she fell into Faith, the dark slayer instinctively wrapping her arms around her as she fell. Buffy sighed and mumbled, "thanks, Faith, you made the room stop spin-y..."

Faith smiled down at the drunk blonde splayed out in her arms. _Goddamn it, how are you always so sexy?_ She shifted downward and laid Buffy down on her bed, figuring she would be asleep soon. She briefly considered if Buffy wouldn't be more comfortable in pajamas, but didn't really trust herself to change the girl without taking a peek...

So she just pulled a blanket over the blonde and was preparing to go when she heard Buffy call out her name.

"Faithy?" Buffy mumbled sleepily, her eyes still shut.

Faith felt her heart skip when she heard the nickname, remembering it from when they were under Willow's spell. "Yeah, B?" Faith replied, standing over the older slayer.

"Faithy, the room's all spin-y again. Make it stop?" she asked softly, opening her eyes slightly and stretching out an arm towards Faith.

Without thinking about it, Faith quickly took off her jacket and boots and crawled into bed with Buffy. This is exactly what she wanted anyway, and if being held by her helped to calm Buffy, well, how could she deny that to her?

"Sure, B." she said as she wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist, pulling the blonde closer to her. Buffy sighed as she felt herself become enveloped by Faith's scent and her strong but soft body. Unthinkingly, Buffy pressed her lips against Faith's cheek, causing the brunette to nearly yelp in surprise. The feel of Buffy's lips on her hot skin was so amazing...

"Thanks, Fai, you made it all better," Buffy sighed quietly as she nestled into Faith. The feel of Buffy's warm breath on her skin was driving Faith crazy. She responded by strengthening her hold on Buffy, letting herself melt into the other girl. Buffy draped one of her arms over Faith's body and snuggled herself into Faith's chest so that Faith's chin rested on the blonde's head. Faith couldn't believe how wonderful Buffy's soft body felt against her. The younger slayer was definitely aroused, but she was able to push those thoughts away somewhat so that she could just enjoy how Buffy felt snuggled against her. Faith had never been one for cuddling before, but then again, Buffy had made her rethink a lot of things. All Faith knew was that there was nowhere in the world she would rather be than here in Buffy's bed, wrapped around the other slayer.

Faith heard Buffy sigh contentedly before finally drifting off. Faith too quickly succumbed to sleep, letting the alcohol and the feel of Buffy's warm body overtake her senses...

And so, for the second time in three day, Willow walked into her dorm to see Buffy and Faith laying together in Buffy's bed. She was feeling really good after her meetup with Tara. While they had talked about a lot of things, one nugget of information that Tara had let slip—the fact that she was gay—really intrigued Willow and kind of opened the door for some feelings she had previously been trying to repress.

As she was getting ready for bed, she noticed that neither slayer had changed clothes; it was as if they had just collapsed together as soon as they got home from the party. This new development with the slayers seemed kinda odd to Willow, and she couldn't help compare it to her newfound feelings for another woman. While Willow knew Buffy and Faith were always really close with their supernatural link and all, it had certainly never manifested itself in cuddling until recently...after that spell, actually. Willow was slightly concerned that maybe this was because of some aftereffects of that, but she didn't see how that could happen. Giles' eyesight hadn't had any weird aftereffects and Xander wasn't still attracting demons. Well, not anymore than normal, anyway. So it was just them, but what did it mean? Faith had always kinda flirted with Buffy, Willow thought, although she kind of did that with everyone. But somehow it was different with Buffy... Willow shook her head, deciding she wouldn't think anything more about it tonight.

()()()()()()()()()()

As Buffy woke up the next morning, she became aware of two things: one, she was really, really thirsty; and two, whatever it was that she was wrapped around felt absolutely amazing. She slowly cracked open an eye and almost gasped when she realized that her head was nestled into Faith's breasts. She slowly began to take stock of the rest of her surroundings and realized that not only was her head buried in Faith's chest, but their arms were wrapped around each other and one of Faith's legs was resting in between hers.

The latter sensation was becoming entirely too much for Buffy and she began to feel her desire building as she felt the girl's strong legs shift and rub up against her thigh. _Oh god, _she thought as her mind finished waking up, _Faith is making me so hot... _She questioned it at first, thinking that surely she was mistaken—she was straight and Faith and her were only friends, after all!—but then Faith's leg twitched again, causing more friction. _Oh god! _She felt the younger girl's breasts move against her face and wanted to scream. _Oh my god, I want Faith so bad..._

Before she did anything she'd regret, she tried to pull her body away from Faith's, but the dark slayer's arms tightened their hold unconsciously. _Oh! She's so strong... _

_Oh...but she's so comfy and warm..._

Letting the feel of Faith's body overtake her, Buffy quickly stopped struggling with the sleeping slayer and relaxed in her arms..

Buffy knew she was going to have to wake the other slayer up soon, but she also kinda didn't want to let go of her quite yet. She took a deep breath and decided that she could stay tucked into the other girl a little while longer, and, assuming Faith didn't move her breasts or leg again, she figured she could contain herself. So Buffy tried to ignore the growing dampness between her legs and just focus on the feel of Faith's body.

Buffy reflected that it had just been two days since a similar thing had happened, although this time they were tucked together way more intimately. Buffy slowly remembered most of the previous night, blushing when she remembered that it that been her that asked Faith to stay and snuggle with her.

As she continued to lay in Faith's arms and mull over the parts of the previous night that she could remember, it slowly dawned on her that, despite all her inner protestations, these feelings she was having for Faith weren't going away. And Buffy didn't really want them to, either. Faith was... well, she was just Faith. She was special.

Buffy smiled and nuzzled deeper into Faith's body.

But still, even if she could admit her feelings, Buffy didn't know what she should do about them. Faith always flirted with her, but that was just the way she is and Buffy knew she couldn't take that as a sign that she was interested... Buffy did know that Faith slept with girls as well as guys, but that didn't mean she wanted Buffy. Although that slayer dream and their current closeness suggested that Faith at least felt something, right? Of course, even if Faith was attracted to her, Buffy didn't just want some casual thing—she wanted to be with her and only her. She knew she would only act on her feelings if Faith wanted a relationship; she couldn't face only being with her once or twice...

Buffy heard their dorm door close, causing Faith to stir beside her. She gently nudged the dark slayer, easing her into wakefulness. When Faith half opened her eyes and looked over at her, Buffy grinned at how cute she looked. Still smiling, the pair slowly pulled apart and looked towards the doorway to see who had just entered.

Willow stood in the room with three coffees and a huge grin on her face as she watched the slayers untangle. "Sleep well?" she asked suggestively.

Buffy grinned sheepishly, slightly embarrassed that Willow saw them like that. _What will she think..._

Faith just yawned and stretched her arms wide, "Five by five." She really wanted to make a joke about B sleeping on her tits, but managed to contain herself.

The two slayers sat up in bed and graciously accepted the coffee from Willow, who took a seat at the end of the bed.

"What time is it?" Buffy yawned

"A little after 9," Willow replied, "how do ya feel?"

"Pretty good," Buffy replied perkily, taking Willow somewhat by surprise.

"We hardly ever get hangovers," Faith explained.

"I guess its a side effect of the super fast healing," Willow reasoned.

Buffy nodded, "I asked Giles about it once, but he just said that slayers aren't supposed to drink, so there's nothing in the handbook about it."

"The handbook's not real thorough, though; it doesn't mention the extra powerful orgasms, either" Faith added, making both Buffy and Willow blush. "...Or at least I don't think it does, Giles didn't really answer me one way or the other..."

"You did not ask Giles about that?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Tried to. He got all red and dropped his glasses," Faith chuckled, "I'm just sayin,' maybe they'd have an easier sell to new slayers if you got to know all the perks goin' in.

"Do you really get...ya know, b-better.." Willow stuttered awkwardly.

Faith laughed, "Yeah, Red. Way more intense. It's a funny story, actually: the first time I masturbated after I became a slayer, I—"

"I think I'm going to go take a shower!" Buffy interrupted, already way too worked up from lying with Faith to hear her finish that sentence. Just the thought of Faith... touching herself... made Buffy almost explode. She hopped out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and almost sprinted out the door, trying to suppress all her thoughts about the brunette...

When she saw the reaction she caused, Faith chuckled and leaned back. She kinda liked how prudish Buffy acted—it made her really curious about what she was like in bed. In her experience, the ones who acted uptight were always the wildest...especially with girls...

"Uh, Faith?" Willow asked, worried about the faraway stare the slayer was developing.

"Huh?" Faith snapped out of it, looking at Willow. She suddenly remembered that she wanted to prod Willow about Tara, especially since they had seemed so close the night before. "Oh hey, how was your little coffee date with Tara?"

Willow sputtered, "What? I..no..date..." She turned bright red, not sure if Faith was actually somehow picking up on her feelings for Tara or if she was just being Faith.

"Damn, getting a little defensive, Red..." Faith was surprised Willow was being so jumpy. _Is it possible she's got a little thing for T? _

"No, I'm not d-defensive! Anyway, it was great. We talked for more than two hours... hey, why are you so interested?" _Oh god, _Willow panicked,_ what if Faith likes Tara? Tara's gay, Faith sleeps with girls sometimes... _Willow got both insanely jealous and furious at the thought. She narrowed her eyes as she waited for Faith's response.

Faith decided she would try to gauge Willow's reaction when she told the witch her suspicions. "Oh, no reason. I'm just pretty sure she's gay and—"

Willow cut her off, thinking her worst fears were confirmed, "Well, you're not her type!" she said a little too loudly. Willow had no idea what Tara's type was, but there was no way she was gonna let this go any further.

Faith couldn't believe it, but she was actually a little frightened of the fierce look in Willow's eyes. "What the fuck're you talking about, Red? I'm not into her..."

"Oh," Willow looked down, embarrassed.

"I mean, she's hot," Faith allowed, "but not really my type, either."

"Oh, sorry, I..." Willow wasn't quite sure how to explain her reaction.

Faith was now positive that Willow had a thing for Tara and decided to tell her what she was about to earlier. "Besides, that girl is crushing on you so hard that she wouldn't even look at me."

"W-what? I...ya think? No... what?" Willow sputtered, causing Faith to laugh.

"You kidding, Red? Tar almost passed out when we were talking about the leather-wearing vamp version of you. Plus she's always staring at you. She totally wants to jump your bones!"

"Really?" Willow squeaked, unable to keep the hopeful note out of her voice.

Faith just laughed, "Yeah, I guarantee it. Just tell her how you feel; she's too shy to say anything and she probably figures you for straight."

"How did you know I...?"

Faith grinned again, "You serious? You've got no poker face at all. I knew as soon as you started wigging out that I said 'date.'"

Willow smiled. "Thanks for the advice, Faith..."

"No prob, Red. And one more thing. Girls? Much better in the sack than guys," she winked at Willow, causing the redhead to blush.

"Really?" Willow asked again, her thoughts going places she couldn't control...

Faith just laughed again. "Totally. Guys are like a fast food burger when you're really hungry— they get the job done in a pinch without too much of a hassle. You know what you're getting, but it's kinda bland and in an hour you're hungry again. But girls... Well, girls are like getting a nice steak at a fancy restaurant— it takes a little more work, but each one is different and you really wanna take your time and savor all the flavors, ya know? Plus, once you're done with a steak, you're totally full..."

When Buffy walked back in, she noticed that both Faith and Willow had faraway looks in their eyes. "Hey guys, what's up? You ready to go ask Giles about that weird symboly thing Faith found on that dead body?"

Willow got up to leave, "I've got class, but I'll meet up with you after. Faith was actually just telling me how she wanted to go eat some steak with you first." She turned and smirked at the dark slayer.

"Oooo, that sounds amazing, Faith. I am totally starved after last night."

"Me too, B... me too.."

Willow just laughed as she walked out into the hallway.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 3: A New Man

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading/reviewing! A quick note: I'm assuming for the purposes of this fic that Faith's hotel room is at the same hotel as Ethan's in "A New Man." I remember them looking really similar anyway, and I need it for the plot!_

**Chapter 3: A New Man**

"Surprise!"

Buffy jumped back as Willow, Xander, Giles, Anya, Tara, and a few kids she and Willow had met in the dorms yelled "Happy Birthday" from their hiding spots in the dorm common room.

"Faith, you tricked me!" Buffy said accusingly at the other slayer, who had told her there was fire-breathing monster downstairs.

Faith shrugged and pointed at Xander and Willow, "hey, don't look at me—they made me do it."

Buffy rolled her eyes but accepted hugs from everyone and reluctantly prepared herself to enjoy the party. At least this was a better surprise than the ones she'd had on her last two birthdays...

Faith handed her a drink and, after a couple of sips, she forgot to be annoyed at her friends for surprising her after she had expressly forbidden anyone to celebrate her birthday this year. She was happy to see all of them, too; with college, they didn't get to hang out as much as they did in high school...

As the party continued, she realized with a smile that Faith hadn't left her side all night. While she thought that their interactions after their second night of cuddling might be a little awkward at first, Buffy realized that it had actually seemed to bring them even closer together. It was like both of them realized that their relationship was evolving into something more, but neither really knew how exactly to get to that next stage. For her part, Buffy was too shy to say or do anything beyond the little touches that they frequently shared.

Faith, on the other hand, didn't really know how to do anything beyond blatant seduction, which she figured wouldn't be the best approach here. So the slayers were at something of an impasse in their budding relationship, unsure of how to proceed.

Willow, who was in a rather similar situation herself with Tara, watched them with interest. Now that she had confirmed her suspicions about Faith, she was curious about what would happen next. Frankly, she also kind of hoped she would get an idea from them that she could use... Plus, Willow realized she kind of liked the idea of them being together romantically. Whether she admitted it or not, Willow still occasionally felt a little jealous of Faith's closeness to Buffy, but if they were a couple, then Willow wouldn't have to be jealous since she would be Buffy's friend in a totally different of way than Faith! Plus, she had really grown to like Faith and wanted the slayer to be happy. She wanted Buffy to be happy too, of course, and she thought that maybe Faith could give her the kind of relationship that Angel never could have...

()()()()()()()()()

Unfortunately, nobody had too much time to work on their relationships before another problem arose that demanded their collective attention: after Willow's attempt at floating a rose with Tara went all wonky, she called Buffy and Faith and told them to meet her in the dinning hall for breakfast to discuss the possibility that there was a dark sorcerer was in the area.

Willow had also decided that this was an opportune time to have the "slayer" conversation with Tara, which the other witch had taken quite well. It turns out that Tara had read about slayers before and, her surprise that there were two active ones notwithstanding, she quickly realized that Buffy and Faith being slayers actually explained quite a bit about why they always seemed to be fighting evil and were constantly concerned with the world ending.

By the time Willow and Tara got to the dining hall, Buffy and Faith were already there, about halfway through their massive breakfasts.

"Hey, Will, Tara." Buffy said pleasantly.

"So what's the sitch?" Faith mumbled, her mouth still full of cereal. Buffy gave Faith reproachful look and a playful punch on the arm for talking with her mouth full. Faith threw up her hands as if silently asking 'what did I do?' which caused Buffy to roll her eyes.

Willow smiled at the exchange, once again thinking that the slayers would make a great couple.

After greeting the slayers, Willow and Tara quickly explained the situation with the rose and how they had felt the presence of dark magic.

"So we're thinking end of the world?" Buffy asked, maybe a little too casually.

"Fuck, we just did that," Faith complained.

"Um, I don't think it's end of worldy... do you, Tara?" Willow asked.

"Um, I'm not sure what the end of the w-world feels like, but I don't think it was that bad. It felt more mischievous, I think."

"Mischievous we can do," Buffy reassured her. "Although I guess we can do the end of the world thing too..."

Tara nodded, "I g-guess that's what s-slayers do, huh?"

Buffy smiled, "Will told ya, huh? Good, that means you get to help out with research from now on!"

"Oh shit T, you didn't know?" Faith asked, "I figured you and Red had talked about everything already. Guess you two had better stuff to do with your time, huh?" She said the last part with a suggestive grin, causing each of the witches to blush deeply.

"Faith!" Buffy said in shock. Buffy was oblivious to the closeness of Willow and Tara, so she just thought it was Faith being Faith.

"What, B? I meant spells! Geez, way to be a perv..." Faith returned, smirking at Buffy.

"I'm a perv?" Buffy exclaimed, obviously flustered.

"Guess so!" Faith shrugged, enjoying Buffy's blush.

"Uh, guys? How about a little focus? Evil magic here!" Willow said, trying to get the conversation away from things relating to how she and Tara spent their private time.

"Hey, I'm ready! B, you done with the sex talk so we can get to the slayin'?" Faith teased again, unconsciously brushing her foot against Buffy's calf under the table.

Buffy sighed in a huff, but nodded to Willow. When she felt Faith's foot touch her leg, she unthinkingly met it with her foot, briefly rubbing her shoe against Faith's. Faith's breath hitched at Buffy's response, and she softly rubbed her ankle against Buffy's leg.

"A-Anyway," Willow started again, "Tara and I did some research, but we couldn't find anything conclusive..."

"So, time to check with G-man?" Faith asked distractedly. She and Buffy had abandoned all pretense and were pretty much just playing footsie under the table. Faith realized she should probably kick her own ass for doing something so innocent and cheesy, but on the other hand, it was Buffy and Faith sure as hell wasn't going to stop any sort of contact with her...

"I've got a morning class, but we can go in the afternoon?" Willow asked, thinking there wasn't a big enough rush to dictate missing calculus.

"Sure..." Buffy replied a little breathlessly, "um, we can all just meet at the dorm at 1? You in, Tara?" Buffy figured she should probably go to her morning class too. Or, on the other hand, maybe she would just sit here and rub her foot against Faith's leg all day...

Tara smiled, happy to be included. "Sure, I-I'd like to help if I can."

Willow smiled, silently thanking Buffy for asking Tara along. She was glad that the gang was going to be so accepting of her.

"Five by Five" Faith murmured, her eyes hazy with desire as they met Buffy's across the table.

()()()()()()()()()

Later that night, Buffy and Faith began their search for the demon that had trashed Giles' house and kidnapped him. After leaving Willow and Tara to research people in town who might be using dark magic to control a Fyarl demon, Buffy and Faith stopped by Faith's hotel room to grab some weapons. They were shocked to find a Fyarl demon smashing into a room above.

"Looks like we got lucky," Buffy grimaced as she pointed up at the second floor door that was torn off its hinges just seconds ago.

"Well, let's get the bastard," Faith replied as she began running up the stairs. As soon as the two slayers reached the top of the stairwell, a military jeep pulled up at the hotel. "Shit!" Faith muttered as she looked down at four soldiers following them up the stairs. Buffy quickly ducked inside the room while Faith stayed behind to hold off the commandos.

After Buffy figured out that the demon _was_ Giles and made Ethan change him back, she went back outside to see how Faith had gotten along. She grinned when she saw three soldiers harmlessly knocked out while Faith had cuffed the remaining one to the balcony of the hotel.

"What took ya so long, B?" Faith grinned, showing off those sexy dimples that Buffy had always secretly adored.

"Hey, I had to deal with the demon and sorcerer here!" Buffy pouted, making Faith grin even wider.

"Will you let me go!" the commando Faith had cuffed yelled, startling the two slayers. Buffy looked down and saw that it was the TA for her Psych class. And he had definitely noticed her this time. "Buffy?"

"If we free you, will you be good?" Buffy asked, realizing this might be a good chance to get some answers about the commandos. When he nodded, Faith reached a hand down and effortlessly snapped the handcuff chain.

"What...what are you?" Riley asked, a look of obvious surprise on his face.

"You don't know?" Buffy asked incredulously, "then why the hell have you been messing with us? We're Slayers."

"Slayers?" Riley asked, looking confused.

"Ya know, hot chicks with superpowers!" Faith grinned, putting an arm around Buffy's shoulders.

Riley still looked confused, which was quickly trying Buffy's patience. "So what's your deal then?" She asked him, happily conscious of the fact that Faith's arm was still around her.

"I believe they work for the United States military," Giles said as she stepped out of the hotel room, holding a bruised Ethan Rayne by the arm. "And unless I'm very much mistaken, they fight demons," he added.

"Fight!" Buffy yelled, turning to Riley again with a look of anger, "then why have they been trying to stop _us_ from fighting demons?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny these statements," Riley said, a look of smug disdain on his face.

Faith finally took her arm from Buffy's shoulders and moved threateningly towards Riley, causing him to recoil in fear.

"Okay! Yeah, we capture and kill demons to keep civilians safe!" he said in a panic, not wanting Faith to hurt him.

The slayers both grinned at his fear as Giles moved closer to him. "Then may I propose a temporary truce?" the watcher said.

Riley nodded, fearfully watching Faith from the corner of his eye.

"Good," Giles replied, "now then, once your men there have woken up, perhaps you can take this sorcerer off our hands. He is the one responsible for the demon attacks I presume you are tracking."

"Fine," Riley replied. As if on cue, another military truck pulled up and two more soldiers piled out. "Stand down," Riley called to them nervously.

As the group walked down the stairs, Riley explained to the new arrivals what the situation was.

"Fine, but we'll have to put him in the other one, full house here," he nodded at their vehicle. Buffy glanced in the back and saw that they had arrested and gagged Spike. Beside him were two demons that Buffy had never seen before. They were bluish with lobster-like faces and wore what looked like body armor.

She looked back at Faith and Giles and tried to cry out, realizing that one of the soldiers Faith had knocked out earlier had gotten back up and was aiming his taser gun at the dark slayer. It was too late, however, and Faith was hit with a massive bolt of electricity from behind, instantly crumbling to the ground.

"Stand down!" Riley called out, but not before the solider delivered another massive blast to Faith's fallen body. The solider dropped his weapon, but Faith had been hit hard.

Buffy cried out and instantly ran over to her fellow slayer, her fear that Faith had been seriously hurt overshadowing everything else. She tenderly brought her hand to Faith's face and felt a tear run down her cheek when she felt Faith's breath against her hand. _Thank god..._

Buffy cupped Faith's head in her lap and began gently stroking the girl's hair, silently begging her to wake up quickly. It seemed to work, as Faith's eyes slowly blinked opened and looked up into Buffy's tear-filled ones. The concern she saw in Buffy's face made her heart skip a beat.

"Fuck..." she moaned, feeling the pain all over her body. Buffy smiled in relief when Faith spoke, knowing she was going to be okay.

"She'll... she'll be fine in a few hours," Riley told them, "she'll be in a lot of pain, though. Sorry," he finished, sounding like he didn't really mean it. He quickly grabbed Ethan and he and the soldier who had blasted Faith got into the military jeep. The two jeeps quickly sped off, leaving a stunned Giles and his two slayers behind.

Giles walked over to where Buffy was still holding Faith and looked down at the slayers. "How do you feel, Faith?"

"Like a fuckin truck ran me over," Faith groaned.

"Well, we've no reason to think that they would lie about the healing time, so with your slayer healing you should be fine within an hour or two," he reassured her. "A night's rest would do you a lot of good, though."

"I'm going to take her up to her room and stay with her until I know she's okay," Buffy said softly, standing up and scooping Faith into her arms. She smiled down into her chocolatey eyes, silently letting her know everything would be okay. Faith just smiled back. She normally wouldn't put up with anyone babying her like this, but, well...it was Buffy. Besides, she thought, having Buffy hold her more than made up for any embarrassment over being hurt.

"Of course," Giles said, "I believe I'll head home. My car should still be where, ahem, Spike left it down the road."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, "why would Spike-"

"Later..." Giles shook his head, not wanting to get into the embarrassment of him hiring Spike, and started walking towards his car. He was pleased that Spike's arrest meant he didn't have to pay the vampire; he just hoped he hadn't banged his car up too much...

"Let's get you to bed," Buffy told Faith, her attempt at a motherly voice coming out far huskier than she'd intended.

Once they got upstairs, Buffy laid Faith down on her bed and sat next to her. She hated to see Faith in such pain...

She was tenderly stroked her cheek, trying to wish it away, as she looked down in concern.

"B..." Faith began, "I...Thanks." Faith didn't usually go around thanking people, but she really wanted to let Buffy know how much she appreciated her kindness. The affection that Buffy was showing her felt really good. Faith kinda wanted even more of it...

Buffy smiled and looked down, once again getting lost in the girl's dark eyes. "Anything for you," she let out, a little more meaningfully than she intended. She suddenly let her mind drift to how close she and Faith had been getting lately. The footsie this afternoon, the nights falling asleep together... she really liked their soft gentle touches, but she also knew it wasn't going to be enough for long. She needed more of Faith, and tonight's events had just reminded her how quick everything could be taken away. They were slayers—it wasn't like she could wait around forever for what she wanted.

And as her eyes continued to meet Faith's, Buffy felt more and more confident that Faith shared what she felt. The look in Faith's eyes told Buffy that she felt something that went beyond just the sexual flirting that Faith had always done. It told Buffy that maybe Faith wanted more...

Buffy leaned down and placed a soft kiss to Faith's cheek, feeling the smoothness of the girl's skin under her lips.

Faith almost forgot how to breathe. This was the second time Buffy had kissed her cheek, and she had been drunk the last time... Faith let herself think back to the spell Willow had cast: the feel of Buffy's lips, her tongue...

Faith slowly sat up, ignoring her body's cry of pain, and moved toward Buffy. Faith's need was obvious—her skin was flushed, her breath ragged, her pupils huge. "B..."

"Faith..." Buffy moved closer so that their noses were almost touching. Her body was on fire; her eyes silently begging Faith to kiss her.

Faith leaned in further, pausing right before their lips touched, as if to cede control to Buffy for the moment that she knew would change everything. Faith knew if they kissed now, of their own free will, she would never be able to live without Buffy. She would never be able to push those feelings back down again...

Buffy felt Faith's warm breath on her mouth and could smell the sweat glistening on her skin. She smiled and answered by closing the gap herself, letting their lips collide gently. Buffy sighed as she felt herself sink into the softness of Faith's mouth. It felt even better than kissing while under Willow's spell because this was...real. She was kissing Faith because that's what she really wanted to do.

Faith responded immediately. She was still in pain, but Buffy's lips made all that seem far away and unimportant. After separating briefly for air, Faith pressed their lips together again, this time taking Buffy's bottom lip in between her lips and running her tongue over it. Buffy quickly opened her mouth and met Faith's tongue with her own, groaning at the feel of their tongues sliding against each other. It felt so...right.

Faith wasted no time in exploring Buffy's soft, wet mouth, letting her tongue drift anywhere she could. Sensing that Buffy's tongue was lonely, Faith quickly swirled hers around it. Buffy moaned as their mouths pressed tighter together, their tongues becoming more and more entwined.

When their lips eventually separated again, the girls rested their foreheads together and struggled to regain their breath. Words weren't needed at this point; all it took was a simple glance to know they were feeling the same thing.

Deciding that she'd had plenty of air, Buffy leaned in again and quickly slipped her tongue into Faith's mouth, already becoming addicted to the feel of their lips pressed together.

As they continued to kiss, even sitting became too much of a chore and Buffy lay back on the bed, pulling Faith down with her, their tongues still dancing together. Faith, who had long since stopped caring about her injuries, complied quickly and wrapped her arms tightly around Buffy. As Faith snuggled into her, Buffy slowly ran a hand through the brunette's silky hair, holding her in place to ensure their kiss could continue uninterrupted.

When their lips and tongues finally did separate, they continued to hold each other tightly, unable to bear the thought of their bodies being apart. They couldn't help but grin stupidly at each other as their breath continued to mingle together.

It was Buffy who finally broke the silence: "Faith... that was...wow..."

"Yeah..." Faith replied breathlessly.

"I...uh, have you ever, um... felt anything like that before?" Buffy asked shyly.

Faith nodded slowly, "Yeah... I have..."

"Oh..." Buffy looked down, slightly hurt.

Faith gently raised Buffy's chin so that their eyes met. "When Willow cast that spell... kissing you then felt like this—like I'm on fire and I can't fuckin' breathe without you..."

Buffy smiled brightly. "Oh..." she breathed happily.

"Yeah..." Faith replied, bringing their lips together again, letting her tongue leisurely slide up against Buffy's.

While the kiss was still passionate, the slower pace also made Buffy feel overwhelmingly comfortable. She could imagine spending an entire day like this, just laying in bed with Faith, letting their lips and tongues lazily caress each other...

After pressing a final kiss to Buffy's lips, Faith gently laid her head on top of Buffy's shoulder, tightening her grip on the slayer's body.

"Goodnight, Faithy," Buffy sighed happily, pressing a kiss to the top of Faith's head.

Faith nuzzled her nose into Buffy's neck. "G'night, B."

TBC...


	5. Chapter 4: The I in Team

_A/N: Although it's set during "The I in Team," I really just borrow a couple of demons from the ep. Thank you all for the reviews/reads, esp. the reviewer who suggested that Faith and Tara should be friends. The idea just seemed so adorable that I had to write a scene with just them!_

**Chapter 4: The I in Team**

Buffy was the first to wake the next morning, but she didn't move right away. She didn't want to disturb Faith, who remained curled up in Buffy's arms, her entire body snuggled tightly against the blonde slayer. Buffy slowly breathed in the scents of Faith's body—a hint of a cinnamony shampoo, a little sweat, and the faint aroma of smoke—a combination that Buffy somehow thought was sexy as hell. Everything about Faith was sexy to Buffy, though. She thought back to the night before with a smile, running her tongue over her lips as Faith had so many times. She didn't know what everything meant or where they went from here, but she did know that she wanted Faith. In every way.

When the dark slayer finally woke up, the first thing she saw were Buffy's beautiful hazel eyes looking down at her sweetly. Faith shifted in Buffy's arms and grinned up at her fellow slayer.

"Morning," Buffy said softly as she brushed her hand across Faith's smooth cheek, tucking some of the brunette's hair behind her ears.

Faith smiled even wider. "Morning, B." Faith figured that a good morning kiss would be acceptable and slowly raised her head up towards Buffy. Faith wasn't quite sure what had come over them last night, but she really hoped Buffy hadn't just gotten caught up in the moment, because she desperately needed more of the girl's lips.

The kiss was more than acceptable to Buffy, and she quickly brought her head down to close the gap between them. When their lips brushed each others, both slayers felt the familiar spark return. After chastely kissing for a moment, the girls both opened their mouths, letting their tongues play together. They reclaimed the territory they had explored the previous night, remembering all the softest parts of the other girl. When their lips finally separated, they were both breathless and smiling.

"A girl could get used to waking up like that," Buffy sighed happily.

"I hope so, cuz I plan on this being my standard wake up procedure," Faith replied with a sexy grin.

Buffy softly nuzzled the end of her nose against Faith's cheek, earning a happy sigh from the dark slayer. "Good." she said, giving Faith's body a gently squeeze with her arms.

Buffy was elated. With that conversation, the two girls had confirmed their commitment to each other without having to have any serious discussions. Buffy knew that would have to come eventually, but for now, it was enough to know that they both wanted to be together. It meant that Buffy could finally give into her desires...

Buffy suddenly felt overwhelmed with lust for Faith. The way she had subtly reassured Buffy, the sexy gleam in her eyes... And Buffy could tell she wanted it, too. Hell, Faith _always_ looked like she wanted it...

Buffy quickly crashed their lips together, and this time it wasn't a gentle good morning kiss. She was practically attacking Faith's mouth with her tongue, and the brunette was responding in kind. Buffy had never felt like this before; it was like she couldn't control herself. She quickly shifted her weight, moving her body on top of Faith's, mushing their breasts together. She wanted to feel every single part of Faith's body touching her...

Faith moaned in approval when Buffy kissed her, happy about how frisky the blonde seemed to be this morning.

As their tongues continued to move together, Faith decided to test the waters a little and let her hand meander down to Buffy's ass. When Buffy made no attempt to remove it, Faith gave it a gentle squeeze. It just seemed to egg Buffy on even further, and she pressed harder into Faith's body, making the brunette moan again.

Without thinking, Buffy leaned back from Faith enough to place a hand on the taller girl's left breast. She could feel the nipple harden instantly under Faith's tank top. Groaning in pleasure, Faith reached out with her hand that wasn't currently gripping Buffy's ass and moved it up to the blonde's chest, gently feeling each of Buffy's breasts in turn. When Buffy moaned, Faith began to move her hand so that she could snake it under Buffy's top and actually feel the girl's skin against her hand...

RING!

Faith's phone startled them both, causing them to freeze. Faith looked like she was going to just ignore it, but Buffy got up slightly, signaling that Faith should answer it. "It could be Giles," Buffy panted, very dazed and breathless.

RING!

"Fuck..." Faith moaned, but rolled over enough to lift the receiver before it could sound again. "The fuck?" was all she said as she lifted it to her mouth, causing Buffy to giggle softly.

"Uh, hello, Faith?" Willow said on the other line.

"Yeah, Red, what's up?" Faith sighed into the receiver.

"Have you seen Buffy? She wasn't here this morning when I got hom—er, woke up." Willow said quickly.

"Yeah, she's right here," Faith replied, "she, uh, slept over here after the fight with dark magic dude."

"Oh," Willow said, a little surprised. "O-Okay, good. Sorry for the wake up, it's just that Giles left a message on our machine. Something demony is afoot. Um, besides him last night, I mean." She said the last part with a giggle.

"Ugh, more demons?" Faith groaned in frustration. Just when she and Buffy were getting somewhere... "So what's the what?"

"Giles said to meet at his place after lunch. I'll call him back and let you know if there is anything else"

"Yeah, alright Red" Faith said, hanging up the phone. She turned toward Buffy, hoping they could pick up where they left off. Even with the disruption, she was still wicked horny.

She sighed when she saw Buffy sitting on the edge of the bed looking at some knives. She knew the moment had been lost. "Damnit, Red," she muttered under her breath.

"How's your pain?" Buffy asked, remembering the electric blasts from the night before.

"Five by five; your tongue must have some wicked healing power, B." Faith replied with a suggestive grin and sat down besides Buffy.

Buffy smiled and gave Faith a quick kiss on the lips, although Faith noted that it wasn't really an 'I'm about ravage you' kiss. But still, a Buffy kiss was a Buffy kiss and Faith happily responded, deepening it and placing a hand on Buffy's waist.

Buffy smiled and touched Faith's cheek softly. "So what's with the demons?"

"Dunno," Faith shrugged, "G-man seems to think something's brewing. We're supposed to meet 'em after lunch." Then she grumbled in a lower voice: "he was a fuckin' demon 12 hours ago, you'd think he could take a morning off..."

Buffy smiled, "That's our always over-vigilant Giles." She looked over at Faith's clock. "...Oh my god! I'm late for math!"

"Can't ya skip it, B? I think my injuries are coming back and I need some more of that tongue cure," Faith replied, using her best seductive voice. _Can't hurt to try,_ she thought.

Buffy shivered at Faith's throaty growl and almost relented. "Faith... tonight. I've gotta go to class, and then we've got the Giles thing... but tonight, I'll give you all the cure you can imagine..." she said, not quite knowing what was coming over her. Faith was supposed to be the dirty one, not her! There was just something about Faith this morning that was making her lose all her inhibitions...

Faith grinned sexily. "Alright, B, but I've got a wicked imagination..."

Buffy smiled, "me too." She scooted closer to Faith and gently pressed her lips to Faith's, once again keeping the kiss relativity chaste, but confirming to the other slayer that she wanted her. She quickly lost herself in Faith's lips, just savoring the other girl's taste.

When their lips parted, the slayers smiled warmly at each other, confirming with the looks on their face their feelings for each other. Both of them were a little shocked at the developments of the last ten or so hours, although both felt like there had been a steady build up to this moment; that it had been a long time coming. They were just glad they finally got to where they were, and more, importantly, where they were about to be...

()()()()()()()()()

"Hey, Tara!" Faith called out to the blonde witch, who was walking with her head down up ahead. Faith had decided to have lunch on campus since she was supposed to meet Buffy to go to Giles', but she still had nearly an hour before Buffy was done with class.

Tara turned around, nervously looking around. She saw Faith and nodded with a smile, unable to wave because her hands were filled with books.

"What's up, T?" Faith said casually, scooping Tara's books out of her hand. "Hey, I'll carry those. I've got the super strength thing going anyway, ya know?"

"T-thanks," Tara nodded with a grateful smile.

"Totally five by five," Faith grinned, "hey, you eaten yet? I was about to go grab some of your campus's fine dining if you wanna join."

Tara smiled, "Okay, that s-sounds good."

"Cool," Faith replied, "hey, by the way, you manage to seduce Willow yet?"

Tara immediately blushed bright red, "I...I-I."

Faith laughed, "Relax T, I'm just messing with you. You don't have to tell me about it. But between you and me," Faith paused to open the door to the dining hall, balancing Tara's stack of books on one hand, "...I am positive you two are gonna end up together."

Tara was still pretty much massively embarrassed, but she also smiled at Faith's words. She and Willow had spent the previous night together, and they _had _kissed, although it had been all Willow's doing. The red head had basically just started kissing her after they had done this cool transmutation spell. Not that Tara minded of course; she had pretty much been wanting to do that since she and Willow met... And then they had fallen asleep all snuggly...

Tara smiled again and returned her attention back to Faith, who was complaining about the commandos they had fought the previous night.

After making a little small talk, Tara suddenly remembered something she was curious about. "F-Faith?" Tara asked after they had gotten food—and Tara was still shocked at how much Faith ate, even if she was a slayer.

"What's up, T?" Faith asked, finishing off a can of coke and wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Can I ask you something? You and Buffy... I s-sense this thing when you're together. Like this energy connecting you..."

"The slayer thing?" Faith asked, a little curious. She wasn't usually too into all the mystical slayer shit, but if it had something to do with her and Buffy...

"Maybe," Tara replied, "But it seems like it's m-more than that. Willow said there had been another slayer with Buffy...um, b-before you."

Faith nodded, "Yeah, B said she was pretty intense. And Jamaican."

"Kendra," Tara nodded. "But Willow said that Kendra and Buffy never seemed connected like you and Buffy. So I...well, I kind of think it's a-also something else. I've felt magical connections before, but they don't feel nearly as intense."

Faith shrugged, "what do'ya think it is?"

Tara looked down in embarrassment. "I...I think you're m-meant to be w-with each o-other..."

Faith's jaw dropped. "Like 'with' as in doin' it? Cuz believe me I'm tryin' here, T."

The redness returned to Tara's cheeks. "M-more than that. I-it's like your spirits complement e-each other. I t-think maybe the slayer bond helps me to s-see it, but this goes beyond that..."

"Damn," Faith breathed, "so we're like spirit-mates?"

Tara smiled, "Something like that. A-anyway, it's really special. The energy...it's very p-positive. And it feels stronger every time I see you together... L-like now, actually..."

Tara and Faith turned to see Buffy stroll into the dinning hall and wave at them excitedly. Faith's face lit up in a grin. Tara's revelation made Faith even more excited to explore this thing between her and Buffy. It was like this gave Faith the strength to really put herself out there. While she had been pretty open with Buffy, there was still a tiny piece of her that was guarded. Faith had learned long ago that guarding that piece of herself was the best way to avoid getting hurt. But she didn't want to keep that from Buffy. Buffy deserved everything she had, and Tara's words had given Faith the courage to finally give it to her.

Tara smiled as she watched the two slayers, feeling their energy encircle each other.

()()()()()()()()()

Later that day, after Giles had briefed them about the latest nasty demon that was lose in Sunnydale, Faith and Buffy found themselves faced with a night of slayage to take care of before they could get down to exploring their feelings for each other. Buffy was extremely nervous about the physical side of their developing relationship, but the thought of it was really turning her on, too. Kissing Faith had been a revelation, even if she had technically done it before. Still, the spell didn't really count, so she considered last night their first real kiss.

The way those kisses made Buffy feel... well, she knew that she wanted Faith in every possible way... Hell, she realized that she was totally in love with the girl. What's more, Buffy knew Faith cared about her too. While she had been initially nervous that Faith would only want her for a one night stand or whatever, she now knew this wasn't the case. Faith had practically told her as much this morning. Besides, Faith had shown time and time again over the last several days that she could be sweet and caring. No, Buffy had no doubt that Faith cared deeply for her too.

But before they could show each other how they felt, they had a demon to kill.

"What's this thing's name again, B? A Polka-guy demon?"

Buffy furrowed her brow; "umm, yeah, polka something I think, 'cos he's got the pokey pole things that come out of his arms, right?"

"Yeah, G-man was all with the spikey arms," Faith replied, rolling her eyes. She always thought the Giles demon briefings were way too thorough. At least he hadn't drawn pictures this time, though.

As they quickly rounded a corner and walked into the cemetery, they found themselves face to face with Riley and two other commandos.

"Ugh, goddamnit!" Faith exclaimed, "don't you idiots ever take a night off?"

Riley's fear was apparent on his face. Buffy realized that his fear of Faith had probably only grown after his goon squad had caused her so much pain the night before.

Faith didn't give Riley a chance to respond, and continued: "look, the slayers have this cemetery on lockdown tonight, so just get the fuck out of here, okay? And if I get hit by so much as a spark from one of your little blasters, it's ass kickings all around!"

Buffy smirked, thinking Faith was pretty cute whenever she was upset. She also thought it was hilarious how afraid of her all the soldiers were.

Riley backed off slightly, but made no attempt to leave. "Look, we have orders to capture a demon. Stay out of our way and we'll leave you to your little vampire hunting."

"You arrogant mother fu-" Faith yelled before Buffy placed a hand on her shoulder, calming her instantly. Faith stopped talking as she felt the pressure of Buffy's hand warm her all over. Buffy smiled at the reaction, realizing what just a simple touch could do to the other girl.

"It's okay, Faithy. I'm sure these little boys playing around in _our_ cemetery didn't mean anything by it," Buffy said quickly, moving closer to Faith so that the sides of their bodies were touching.

"Now," she continued, turning towards Riley, "Faith and I have kind of a big night planned, so we'll just go kill our polka guy demon and we'll be on our way, k?" Faith shuttered at Buffy's words, her anger fading instantly as she thought about them together.

"Polgara?" Riley asked suddenly.

"The fuck you just call her?" Faith asked, instantly ready to fight again. Buffy let out a giggle at Faith's response, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze.

"I think that's the demon's name, honey." Buffy, still giggling slightly. Faith instantly calmed again at Buffy's affectionate pet name, thinking to herself that Buffy was the only person in the world who could call her "honey" and not get their ass kicked.

"That's our target- a polgara demon," Riley replied, looking askance at the slayers' closeness and nicknames.

"Ours too," Buffy said with a frown towards Riley. These run-ins with the soldiers were becoming a huge pain in the ass...

"Look, Beefstick," Faith said, "you guys can have him and do whatever sicko things you want to do to him after we beat his ass. Just stay out of our way, okay? Me and B here have way better things to be doing and want to get this over with..." she trailed off with a sexy dimpled grin directed at Buffy that made the blonde weak in the knees.

"Fine, but don't damage..." Riley's sentence was cut short as the Polgara demon smacked him from behind, knocking him over. The other men in his squad immediately fired their blasters, momentarily stunning the demon, but he quickly recovered and knocked them down too. Buffy and Faith attacked the demon, coming at him from both sides.

The slayers were perfectly in sync, easily batting the Polgara demon back and forth between them, leaving it unable to respond. After a series of vicious punches to its jaw from both slayers, the demon fell, clearly unconscious. Faith took out a knife and finished him by stabbing his face, which unfortunately squirted blue goo all over her face and clothes.

"Fuck!" she yelled as the disguising goop hit her.

"Faith! Are you okay? Does it hurt?" Buffy asked quickly, kneeling down besides her fellow slayer.

"Nah, it's just fucking gross!" Faith exclaimed, trying to wipe it off. Once she got most of the big chunks off, she leaned closer to Buffy and whispered huskily into her ear "...I might need you to help me clean off." Buffy blushed scarlet red, but smiled and nodded. She helped Faith up and turned to the three soldiers that were still lying on the ground.

"Hey!" Buffy yelled, kicking Riley's boot. He shook his head as he came out of the daze the demon left him in. "So you guys got cleanup, okay?," Buffy said with a smirk, "Enjoy the fresh polka-thing; me and Faith are gonna bounce."

"Thanks for your help!" Faith yelled sarcastically as the slayers left the cemetery and walked towards Faith's motel room. The slaying had gotten them even more worked up, so much so that they were almost sprinting to Faith's room, wanting to get there as fast as possible.

When they got to the steps of the hotel, they began kissing passionately, their tongues circling around in each others mouths. Faith began to take control, pushing Buffy against her door as she located her key. She pressed her body into Buffy's, earning a moan from the blonde slayer. Buffy was overcome with the feel of Faith's body as the brunette began to gently grind her hips into Buffy's right before she opened the door. The two slayers quickly tumbled inside, their lips still interlocked as they fell onto Faith's bed. They stayed like this- kissing and touching each other gently- until the need for air forced them to break apart.

"God, you are so hot, Faith..." Buffy moaned, lost in the lust she saw in the other girl's dark eyes.

"You're not so bad yourself, girlfriend," Faith grinned in response before kissing Buffy deeply once more. "Now," she continued, once their lips had parted again, "how about you help me wash this demon shit off in the shower?"

Buffy nodded quickly and grinned, unable to contain her excitement for seeing Faith's body. Buffy felt like the part of her brain that would normally be nervous and apprehensive was completely shut off; all she could think about was how much she wanted Faith. After another quick kiss, Faith led Buffy by the hand into her bathroom.

The slayers kissed passionately, feeling their need for each other overwhelm them. Faith quickly flipped the water to the shower on before pressing Buffy against the bathroom wall, their mouths moving together as their tongues explored. Faith whimpered when Buffy gently slid her hand under Faith's tanktop, feeling the girl's tight stomach beneath her fingers. Buffy smiled at how cute Faith sounded, falling even more in love with the dark slayer.

Faith thought she was lucky that she could even manage to continue breathing she was so overwhelmed with everything that was happening. After all her thoughts and fantasies about Buffy, she was getting to kiss her, touch her, be touched by her...

Faith gasped when Buffy grasped the bottom of Faith's tanktop and pulled it over her head, letting her breasts spill out. Buffy growled with desire as she feasted her eyes on Faith's bare chest, her eyes moving over every inch of her upper body.

"So...sexy..." she managed to mutter as she continued to stare, causing Faith to grin. Faith knew she had a great body, and had been called sexy many times before, but none of those times mattered—Buffy's opinion was the only one that she gave a damn about anymore. When Buffy continued to just stare, Faith took Buffy's hands in hers and guided them to her breasts, moaning when Buffy's palms brushed across her already hard nipples.

Buffy smiled at the feel of Faith's breasts in her hands. She gently stroked, rolling Faith's dark nipples between her fingers, causing Faith to throw her head back in pleasure. Buffy's smile turned into a wide grin when she heard Faith's positive reaction—she loved that she could make Faith feel good.

Soon Faith was tugging at Buffy's top, forcing the blonde to momentarily stop caressing Faith's breasts so the dark slayer could slide it over her head. Faith quickly unhooked Buffy's bra, her reaction similar to Buffy's as she gazed hungrily at the blonde's pert breasts. Unable to contain herself, Faith dove at Buffy and took the blonde's left breast in her mouth, gently circling her nipple. "Oh!" Buffy squealed with delight as Faith gently bit the nipple before continuing to caress it with her tongue. Faith's mouth was sending waves of pleasure through out Buffy's body.

Finally both girls knew they needed more and quickly stripped each other, taking a moment to gaze appreciatively over each others forms before smashing their lips back together in need.

As they continued kissing, they made their way into the shower, feeling the hot water intensify their desire as it poured over them. This time Buffy had Faith pressed up against the wall, her tongue heatedly exploring Faith's mouth. And since they didn't have all those pesky clothes in the way anymore, they could feel their hot skin pressed together, their desire building and building.

"I...gotta have you...now" Faith gasped in between kisses.

"Take me" Buffy breathed in her ear, which nearly made Faith come right there.

Buffy never knew sex could be so wild; she felt like she had lost all control, but in the best possible way. Faith was like an animal—passionate, fierce, unrestrained. But that wasn't everything, though. Even as Faith's hands and tongue drove her toward new levels of wild, intense pleasure, Buffy felt an undercurrent of gentleness in her touch. Buffy felt like she _could_ lose control because she could trust Faith; she knew that Faith would take care of her.

Faith felt that from Buffy, too. In between her ragged cries of pleasure, Buffy would whisper tender things into her ear about how beautiful she was or how good she felt. When Buffy knew Faith's body needed a quick break, she would just make a trail of little soft kisses up to her lips and kiss her softly while murmuring beautiful things until she was ready again. No one had ever done things like that to Faith before.

As they continued to move together, Faith came to terms with how much she really loved Buffy. That alone made this different. Faith realized that she had never really even made love before. She felt like all her other sexual encounters were basically just mechanical, even if some of her partners—women mostly—had known the mechanics really well. No, this was something entirely different; she could feel the depth of Buffy's feelings for her in every touch, every lick.

Plus, and this had surprised Faith a little, Buffy was pretty damn wild herself. She loved to nip at Faith's neck and her nails would dig into Faith's back, causing just a tiny bit of pain that dovetailed with the unbelievable pleasure.

After she and Buffy had both climaxed for the third time, Faith crashed her lips to the little blonde's, wrapping her arms around her. Faith knew she could never get enough of this and hoped Buffy felt the same. Buffy's happy sigh and soft caresses gave her hope that she did. The slayers continued to kiss gently for awhile, so happy to finally be lovers. After awhile they remembered the ostensible reason for going into the bathroom and they slowly washed each other, pausing frequently to kiss and fondle.

As a result, they were worked up once again after the shower was finished, and began passionately kissing on Faith's bed after they had dried each other. Faith lay completely on top of Buffy, pressing her body deeply into Buffy's as her tongue slid into the blonde's waiting mouth. As they kissed, they began grinding into each other, quickly settling into rhythm together so that they came at almost the same time.

"Wow" Buffy whispered once the slayers were finally sated. She was laying on Faith's bed with her arms wrapped tightly around the dark-haired slayer. Faith had her head resting gently on Buffy's chest, and Buffy could feel every breath the girl exhaled dancing across her skin. Buffy sighed contentedly as Faith nuzzled deeper into her body, the girl's long dark hair tickling her skin.

"That was...amazing" Buffy was finally able to add, moving a hand to gently stroke Faith's soft hair- hair that it had taken the slayers a considerable amount of time to get clean.

"It was..." Faith replied softly, using a tone that Buffy had never heard before... as if she had let down all her emotional walls. "I... It's never felt like that before," she added, her voice barely audible so that anyone without slayer hearing wouldn't have been able to hear it.

"For me either," Buffy said gently, prompting Faith to move her head up for a kiss.

After their lips separated, Buffy gently nuzzled their noses together, eliciting a soft purr from Faith. Buffy smiled, "you're so cute, Faith."

Faith smiled back at Buffy, "What? I am not, B! I will take hot, sexy... fuckin' voluptuous... but not cute!"

Buffy laughed, "well, yeah, you're definitely sexy and hot and whatever else. But you're kinda cute, too," she said softly as she pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "And sweet..." she added, smiling warmly at Faith.

Faith kissed Buffy back before replying, "just for you, though, so don't tell anyone... Or else I'll have to tell them about all the noises you make during sex!"

Buffy laughed again, playfully punching Faith on the shoulder before snuggling tighter into her arms. "you better not!" she said, still laughing.

After a moment passed, Faith spoke quietly. "Hey, Buffy?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. She remembered her conversation with Tara earlier; her promise to herself to give Buffy everything she had.

"Yeah, Faithy?" Buffy replied, looking up at Faith's eyes.

Faith looked down into Buffy's beautiful eyes and smiled. "Look, I... I'm not great at this stuff, and... well, shit, I don't know the last time I said this to anyone, but..." she took a deep breath before continuing, "I just wanted you to know...that I love you."

Buffy's face lit up in a huge smile as Faith spoke. She could appreciate how hard this was for Faith and it really meant a lot to her and said a lot about their relationship. Buffy brought her head up so that it was level with Faith's before replying, "I love you too, Faith. I'm in love with you..." Faith beamed. She had felt Buffy's love all night, but hearing her say it was still really special for her. The slayers gently locked lips together to confirm their love before snuggling back into each others arms.

"G'night, B" Faith whispered, softly kissing the top of Buffy's head.

"Night, Fai," Buffy sighed happily, drifting off to sleep in her lover's arms.

()()()()()()()()()()()

CRASH!

They slayers were instantly awake as they heard the loud sound and felt the room shake. The first thing they noticed is that it was morning—the bright sunslight spilled into Faith's room. Still in each other's arms, they quickly turned towards the door, their slayer instincts taking over. They jumped up together as they saw two demons standing where Faith's door used to be, both holding axes. They were blue, looked kinda like lobsters, and were wearing armor. Buffy felt like she had seen them before...

Before she could reflect further, one of the demons crashed its axe into the wall of Faith's hotel, ripping a huge hole in it. The slayers quickly hopped out of bed and grabbed at weapons that Faith had in the corner. Just as Faith picked up a broadsword, the demons advanced, one of them bringing his axe down on Faith's bed. Faith cursed as the creature destroyed her bed and flung her sword, striking him directly in the forehead. The demon died instantly. The other demon, after destroying Faith's dresser and putting another huge hole in her wall, flung his axe towards the slayers. The girls ducked, easily avoiding it as it crashed into Faith's back wall. Buffy grabbed the axe sticking out of the wall and, in a single smooth motion, lunged at the demon, chopping its head clean off.

"Well, I guess we can't axe him any questions now," Buffy quipped.

"What the fuck's goin on, B? Since when do demons attack slayers in their rooms at... fuck, 8 in the morning?" Faith said angrily, surveying the damage done to her room. When her eyes glanced back over to Buffy, she grinned, "By the way B, you chopping off demon's heads with axes in the nude? Wicked hot."

Buffy glanced back at Faith and grinned. She walked over to where Faith was and gave her lover a quick kiss before locating her clothes. "We better go tell Giles," she said unhappily, thinking she would rather spend some quality alone time with Faith right at the moment. But Faith was right, demons didn't just attack them inside early in the morning... something weird was going on.

As Buffy picked up the phone and quickly dialed Giles' number, Faith slid up behind her and began gently kissing and licking her neck. "Mmm," Buffy sighed happily as the phone began to rang, turning around quickly to kiss Faith's lips before Giles answered.

"Hello?" Giles said on the other line.

"Giles! It's Buffy. Hey, weird sitch here: me and Faith were just attacked by two demons." As she was talking on the phone, Faith slid her arms around Buffy's stomach and rested her chin on Buffy's shoulder. Buffy lost herself in the embrace, not paying attention to what Giles said next. "What?"

"I asked if you were okay?" Giles repeated.

"Oh, yeah, they were lightweights. Had axes, but no match for two slayers," Buffy said, trying her best to pay attention to Giles as Faith continued to lavish kisses on her neck.

"Where did this happen?" Giles asked, wondering why Faith and Buffy were together so early in the morning.

"Hm? Oh, Faith's room. I...urm, stayed over last night again since we slayed really late, killing that polka guy and everything..."

Buffy nearly moaned into the phone as Faith sucked on the pulse point on her neck.

"Okay, fine. I'd like to get as many details as possible about the demons. Can you come over now?"

"Yeah, me and Faith'll be right over. Can you call the others?"

"Of course. Goodbye." Giles said, hanging up the phone.

Buffy slammed the phone down and turned in Faith's arms to kiss the brunette's lips hard. She really wanted to indulge in Faith some more, but knew they needed to head to Giles'. Plus, the room didn't have a door anymore and she didn't want anyone to be able to see them...

"Faithy, we have to go..." Buffy said as she pulled her lips back, "but let's pick this up later, okay?"

Pressing one final kiss to Buffy's lips, Faith pouted "fine..." and moved towards her pile of clothes as Buffy dressed.

Buffy grinned, "hey Fai..."

"Yeah B?" Faith asked, pulling on her leather pants.

"Love you" Buffy cooed gently.

Faith smiled, "I love you too B," and she once again kissed the blonde.

After the slayers dressed, they headed towards Giles' house, Buffy's hand sliding comfortably into Faith's.

_TBC!_


	6. Chapter 5: Goodbye Iowa

_As always, thanks to everyone that reads or reviews! Starts right after the demon attack at the end of the last chapter. (The demon attack is my fairly lame attempt to put some kind of a plot in between all the Fuffy snuggles and sexin'). _

_Also, I burgled one line of Giles dialogue from the ep because it's so good._

**Chapter 5: ****Goodbye Iowa**

"Now, if you would be so kind as to go back over your story in greater detail," Giles said to Buffy as he poured a cup of tea. Willow and Tara, as the last to arrive at Giles' house, sat down with their backs against the couch that currently hosted Xander, Anya, and Giles. Faith and Buffy were sharing the loveseat on the other side of the coffee table, which was currently overloaded with volumes on demons.

"'K, though there's not much too it. Demons broke Faith's door, got killed by me and Faith. They didn't say anything..."

"Just fucked up my room something fierce," Faith added.

"Wait, why were you over there this morning?" Xander asked, causing Buffy to blush. Now wasn't really the time to get into _that_...

"We had a late night slayage-wise. We had to kill the Polka-thing demon, remember?" Buffy replied a little too defensively.

"Ah, yes, the Polgara," Giles said, suddenly remembering the mission from the night before. "You said you were able to get it. ...Although you really should have called me last night after you killed it..."

"Well, it was late..." Buffy trailed off, blushing again as she thought about what she and Faith did immediately after leaving the Polgara demon.

"Yeah, plus we had to deal with the commando douches again," Faith added.

"They were hunting it too?" Willow asked.

"Yep, they wanted the body after we killed it, so we left it with them." Buffy explained.

"And you're sure it's dead?" Giles asked.

Buffy nodded, "Faith knifed it's face, blood got everywhere. Took forever to clean it off her in the shower," she added without thinking. Willow and Tara's eyes went wide, Xander dropped his tea cup, and Giles immediately started cleaning his glasses.

Anya just nodded sympathetically, "yes, blood can take quite a long time to clean off..."

Buffy, now beet red, just stated at the floor.

Faith grinned wickedly, but came to the rescue, "It was in my hair and B helped wash it out, ya pervs!"

Buffy looked up, silently thanking Faith. She really wasn't ready to have that conversation with the rest of them yet! She glanced over and saw that Tara still had a smirk on her face, but the others seemed to accept the explanation. Anya still seemed oblivious.

Giles cleared his throat, "Yes, well, now that that's settled...ahem. Tell me more about these demons that attacked you the next morning."

"Hmm, well, they were blue. Looked kinda like lobsters, had armor and axes with them." Buffy recounted. "It's kinda weird, but I'm pretty sure I've seen them before..." Buffy trailed off, trying to remember.

Suddenly it hit her. "Oh my god!"

The others looked up as Buffy jumped to her feet.

"Faith, Giles! The other night, when the commandos arrested Ethan... do you remember the back of the military truck thingy?"

Faith shook her head, "Ah, not really, B..."

Giles frowned, briefly removing his glasses, "I'm afraid I didn't get much of a look either..."

"Well I did," Buffy said, "and there were some demons in there with Spike after he got captured... including the ones that attacked me and Faith this morning!"

"Fuck!" Faith exclaimed. The others had similar shocked looks on their faces.

"Are you sure?" Giles replied seriously.

"Positive," Buffy replied firmly.

"So the commandos are trying to kill you?" Willow reasoned, "they sent them after you?"

"Those motherfuckers!" Faith growled, which made Buffy instinctively touch her arm to calm her.

"But why?" Xander asked.

"I guess they think we're too powerful..." Buffy said

"Or they want to hide something" Giles said.

"Like what?" Buffy asked.

Giles took a deep breath. "Before he...ahem, turned me into a demon, Ethan told me about something the demons are afraid of—a 'project 314.' From what he told me, it is almost assuredly connected with the commandos."

"What kind of project?" Willow asked, her hand absentmindedly playing with Tara's hair.

"I'm not sure, I'm afraid," Giles said, taking a sip of tea. "Ethan didn't have much, but it seems quite big. Certainly something they'd want to protect."

"And they figured a couple of slayers might just get in their way" Buffy said.

"Perhaps so" Giles said, "especially given your frequent run-ins lately."

"So, um, do we think these commandos might try something like this again?" Xander asked.

"I'm afraid we'll have to assume they will" Giles replied grimly.

"So, let's go kick some commando ass?" Buffy suggested.

"Second" Faith said quickly.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy," Giles said. "First of all, we don't even know where to look for them."

Buffy and Faith both grumbled, but realized Giles had a point.

"I believe our more pressing matter is safety" Giles said. "If they came after you at Faith's hotel, they may know where you live as well, Buffy."

"Plus that one was your TA" Faith said.

"Excuse me?" Giles said.

"... Uh, one of the commandos was sorta me and Willow's Psych TA last semester" Buffy said.

"What!? Giles nearly yelled. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Buffy shrugged "I didn't think it was important... I mean, classes ended right after me and Faith fought them while we were killing the gentlemen, so I didn't think it was a big!"

"But this means they potentially have all your information!" Giles exclaimed.

"If by 'all my information,' you mean the military knows I got a B- in psychology..."

"I'd wager they know considerably more than that!" Giles said. "I'm sure he has access to all your school records, including addresses!"

"Giles, they're the military. The government. They have all that stuff anyway," Xander chimed in. "they've got databases with everything in them. I remember from my, um, Halloween in the military."

"Yes, well, the point remains." Giles said. "It also means that Willow isn't safe either since he knows you are friends."

"Why would they w-want to hurt Willow?" Tara asked quietly, placing a protective hand on Willow's knee.

"To get to me and Faith" Buffy said grimly.

"Yes, it's probably best if none of us are able to be easily found for the next few days, at least until we have a better idea of what to do next." Giles stated. "I'd ask you all to stay here, but they know who I am. I'm afraid Ethan will tell them everything they want to know about me, including where I live."

"Hey, you could all come stay at my house. They haven't seen us together so they'd have no reason to track down my parent's basement" Xander offered.

"No, I will not squat in that dank hole!" Giles replied disgustedly.

"Ah c'mon Giles, it's not that bad" Xander defended, earning an eye roll from Anya.

"Not like we've got many options" Buffy said. "I'm afraid you should probably hide out too Tara," she said, turning to the other blonde, "they might have seen you with us on campus."

Tara nodded, "Of course."

"Alright, this is gonna be a party!" Xander enthused.

Giles grimaced. "Yes, well, everyone get your things together and meet at Xander's... basement. And be sure you're not followed" he added.

()()()()()()()()

Anya yawned, "Xander, I'm tired. I want to go to sleep now. Make everyone go to bed."

It was nearly midnight. After moving all their essentials into Xander's basement, they talked through potential strategies to battle the commandos, but hadn't come up with anything substantial as yet.

"Yeah... there might be sleepage place issues" Xander said as the scoobies all crowded around his basement looking at his one bed and one couch. "If me and Anya take my bed, that just leaves us this couch. At least its a pull out though," Xander offered as he began to unfurl it.

"Me and Tara have dibs!" Willow called out quickly, hopping onto it.

"Where are the rest of us going to sleep, Xan?" Buffy complained.

"Um, I have sleeping bags in the closet?" Xander replied, shaking his head.

Buffy rolled her eyes and walked over to the closet to begin digging around for them. Faith walked over to join her, subtly brushing up against Buffy's body as she pretended to look over her shoulder into the closet.

"Xander, where are they?" Buffy asked, "all I see is a bunch of camping stuff..."

"Camping stuff?" Faith asked, her breath on Buffy's neck.

"Oh, yeah, sometimes I set up a tent out back for my 'get away from my crazy family on holidays' tradition." Xander replied, "the sleeping bags should be there too."

"B!" Faith yelled suddenly, "I've got a wicked awesome idea!"

Buffy rubbed her ear, "Ow! Right here Faith, no need for the yellage."

"Sorry babe," Faith said quieter so that only Buffy could hear, "but I've got a way for us to get some privacy, so we can, ya know, screw more."

"Faith!" Buffy said, gently punching her arm in mock outrage. Then she paused for a second. "Yeah, okay, let's hear the idea."

Faith grinned, grabbed the tent in one arm and Buffy's hand in the other, and marched towards the back door to Xander's yard. "Me and B are gonna take this and sleep outside and, ya know, get in touch with the great outdoors and everything... It's a slayer thing" she explained to the others.

"I don't know if that's the safest idea..." Giles said.

"Wha? It's me and B! Nothing can fuck with us together, plus its not like the commandos know where we are," Faith replied confidently. Buffy nodded in agreement.

"I suppose that's a fair point," Giles conceded, "I'm just afraid that IF there was something out there, it might catch you both unawares if it doesn't have to break into the house first..."

"I- I have an idea," Tara spoke up softly.

"What's up, T?" Faith turned around and smiled at her.

"There's a spell that sets up a perimeter around an area, and if a-anything enters the area, it sets off an alarm. L-like a car alarm" she offered.

"Would you be able to do the spell?" Giles asked her.

"W-we could," Tara said, indicating her and Willow. Willow, who was standing beside her, smiled and gently touched Tara's hand.

Willow then nodded at Giles, "Yeah, Tara and I together could definitely do it—we've done transmutation spells, and those are way more complex than this."

"That would be quite helpful, actually" Giles said, giving Tara a small smile.

"Alright T! Let's motor!" Faith said, continuing out the door, still dragging Buffy by the hand.

Tara grabbed a bag containing magic supplies before following the slayers outside with Willow. Once the four were outside, Willow and Tara readied the spell while Buffy and Faith struggled with the tent on the other side of the yard. Faith spread the tent out on the ground and began organizing the poles. Buffy stood looking at her, impressed at how on top of this she seemed. When Faith had finished setting everything up, she handed Buffy one of the long poles and got on the opposite side of the tent.

"B, put that pole into the flap there" Faith directed.

Buffy tried to wiggle the pole through the opening three times, getting it stuck each time. "Ugh!" Buffy dropped the pole, clearly frustrated.

"Here, I've got ya" Faith said quickly and moved over to where Buffy was. She showed Buffy how to keep the tent flat while inserting the pole and helped her get it in.

"How'd you do that?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Been camping a million times, B. You've never gone?"

"Not a big nature fan," Buffy admitted.

Faith laughed, "yeah, that sounds about right."

"Hey, what does that mean?" Buffy pouted.

Faith glanced over at the witches and, seeing they had their backs turned, gave Buffy a quick kiss. "Nothin' B," she said as they pulled their lips apart.

"Mmm" Buffy smiled. She paused. "Hey, did you just kiss me so I'd forget you made fun of me?"

Faith smiled innocently. "Nah B, I kissed you cuz I love ya. Knowing I can pretty much say anything to ya as long as I follow it up with a kiss is a nice bonus, though."

Buffy's face lit up into a giant smile, having heard nothing past Faith's casual declaration of love.

"What?" Faith asked as Buffy just continued to grin at her.

"...You're so sweet." She moved even closer to Faith. "and I love you too," she continued, softly kissing Faith. Forgetting that Willow and Tara were on the other side of the yard, Faith wrapped her arms around Buffy and deepened the kiss. When the slayers broke apart, they turned to see the witches staring at them—Willow's jaw was nearly on the floor, but Tara was just smiling knowingly.

"You... I mean, I thought that...and I knew Faith...but now I know Buffy... and you two, with the kissage..." Willow babbled. Even after all her guessing that Faith and Buffy felt something for each other, it was still kind of a shock to see them actually kissing. Well, kissing for real and not as a result of her accidentally casting a spell on them...

"Will!" Buffy exclaimed, "I uh... yeah, Faith and I are kinda...ya know... and I know the whole girl on girl thing must give you a wiggins, but..."

"Chill, B, I don't think she's freaking about that," Faith said, smiling knowingly at the witches.

"No... no freaking here... and definitely not about that... just surprised to see your smoochies now..." Willow replied, slowly returning to her normal state.

"Oh, good," Buffy replied. She paused, looking at Faith and then back at Willow. "What do' ya mean, 'definitely not about that?'"

Willow chuckled and Tara blushed slightly. Buffy slowly looked back and forth between the two witches and Faith, not understanding what she was missing.

Willow reached her hand out and took Tara's, softly caressing it.

Buffy cocked her head, staring at the witches, still not getting it. Then, "OH!"

The other girls laughed, Tara even giving a chuckle as Buffy's eyes went wide. "You two too?" she exclaimed excitedly.

Willow and Tara nodded. Buffy pulled Willow into a quick hug and smiled, "that's so great, I'm so happy for you!" She then hugged Tara, "and you too! You've got a great girl here, Tara."

The blonde witch just smiled, "I know."

Buffy then turned to Faith, "so you knew?"

Faith shrugged, "what can I say B, I've got wicked gaydar."

"Then why didn't you pick up on us sooner?! We could've been together all this time!" Buffy pulled Faith close to her.

Faith chuckled, "Hey, I tried—remember all the flirting when you were still in high school?"

"Yeah, good point." Buffy admitted.

"Hey! Now we can do all kinds of lesbian things together!" Willow said excitedly.

Faith raised her eyebrows.

"Not those things!" Willow said, rolling her eyes at Faith. "I mean like double dates, Lilith Fair, and... I dunno, maybe we should join some kind of club?"

"Club?" Faith asked skeptically, although she couldn't help but smile at Willow's enthusiasm.

"I dunno," Willow admitted, "well, at least double dates then!"

Faith laughed.

Hearing the door open, the four girls turned to see Giles poking his head out the door. Buffy, Willow, and Tara looked at him nervously, hoping he hadn't heard their conversation.

It was immediately apparent that he hadn't hear them, though. "Everything go alright with the spell?" he inquired.

"Yes, Mr. Giles, it w-worked" Tara replied.

Willow smiled adoringly at her girlfriend.

"Excellent," Giles replied, "good work."

Willow and Tara smiled at the compliment. "Well, we should go in," Willow said to Buffy and Faith, "but we'll talk about the other stuff later," she said quietly so only Buffy and Faith could hear.

"K. 'Night Will, Tara" Buffy smiled at the witches, thinking they did make a pretty cute couple.

After Willow, Tara, and Giles went inside, the slayers turned their attention back to the tent. With Faith's direction, they quickly set it up properly with only a few minor hiccups. Then the slayers crawled inside and zipped it up to give them even more privacy.

"Oh my god, the ground is so hard!" Buffy groaned as she lay down.

Faith laughed as she crawled into Buffy's arms. "You're such a girl, B."

"Well, yeah! Hello, girl here. I've got the bits to prove it, too!"

"Mmm, I know," Faith whispered huskily as she cupped one of Buffy's breasts and softly kissed her neck.

"Hey, Faith?"

"Yeah, B?" Faith brought her face up to look Buffy in the eyes, smiling when saw the affection in them.

"Had you ever thought about the lesbian thing before? I don't mean the doing... more like the being. I mean... do you think of yourself as a lesbian?"

"Hmm, not sure, B." Faith said. She gave the corner of Buffy's mouth a little kiss. "Never really thought about it." She gave Buffy another kiss. "But, [kiss] I guess I am [kiss]. I love you [kiss], you're the only person I've ever loved [kiss], and you're a girl [kiss], so yeah, I guess I am [kiss]."

Buffy smiled, tears of love filling her eyes. "Then I am too, because I've never loved anyone half as much as I love you." She tightened her hold on Faith, pulling the raven haired slayer even closer to her. Their tongues met, falling into a comfortable rhythm. The slayers both began to feel their bodies heat up as they continued kissing harder and deeper. Soon they needed more and hands began to wander.

The slayers quickly began divesting themselves of their clothing, shivering with pleasure as they felt their skin come into contact. Faith began a trail of hot kisses leading down to Buffy's neck, pausing to gently suck and bite the soft flesh there. Buffy moaned as she felt Faith's mouth on her neck and immediately pushed her leg up in between Faith's, gently pressing it into the girl's wet center.

Faith immediately moaned back. "Oh god, B..." Faith panted into Buffy's neck, "I was tryin' to go slow... make it all romantic..."

"Romance later," Buffy panted back, "fuck me first..." She then slid her hand down and pressed it against Faith's ass, grinding the brunette against her knee.

"God, I fuckin' love you," Faith growled in approval as she moved her mouth down to Buffy's right breast, one again leaving a trail of kisses behind. As she licked around Buffy's now erect nipple, she moved her hand down to Buffy's inner thigh, teasing her by caressing so close to where Buffy wanted her.

"Oh, please Faith" Buffy moaned as she removed her knee, but slowly trailed her fingers towards Faith's center.

Faith gently bit Buffy's right nipple as she gave her what she wanted. Buffy cried out again and pressed her body upwards.

As Faith moved her mouth to Buffy's other breast, she too cried out softly as she felt Buffy's hand working its way in between her legs.

As they made love, Faith couldn't believe how comfortable they were with each other. Even though the night before had been absolutely magical in every way, there was still some initial tentativeness that was completely gone now. Now there was no shyness, no reservations whatsoever between them. Buffy cried out softly as Faith's hands gently caressed her and even whispered naughty encouragements into her ear as her pace sped up.

They lost track of the times they came, melding together in a haze of sweaty bliss.

"Mmm" Faith sighed quietly as she and Buffy finally returned to Earth again. She looked over at Buffy's face and smiled as she saw all the love in her hazel eyes.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, snuggling her body up against Faith's. She lay her head on Faith's shoulder and purred as she felt Faith's arms wrap tighter around her. "I Love you," she sighed contentedly.

"Love you, B" Faith replied, gently kissing the top of Buffy's head. "Always will," she added quietly.

"Always." Buffy repeated with a smile as she nuzzled deeper into Faith and began drifting off to sleep.

Faith smiled and concentrated on Buffy's heart beat as she too slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Faith woke up to the heavenly sensation of Buffy's soft breath against her neck. She squeezed the blonde tighter against her body, breathing in deeply to capture every nuance of her lover's scent. She then slowly let her mind wander lazily over the last couple of days, feeling her heart warm as she realized she had spent nearly every second with Buffy. Her girl.

Faith leaned in closer and brought her lips against Buffy's cheek, silently giving her love to the other girl. Buffy began to stir in Faith's arms, slowly blinking her eyes open. She smiled as she saw the tender look in Faith's eyes. _She can be so sweet..._ Buffy shifted in Faith's arms so that she could lean upwards and give her a proper good morning kiss.

"Morning, Fai" she sighed as their lips parted.

"Morning," Faith said before their lips met again. As they kissed, Buffy slowly slid off Faith and onto her side. Faith turned so that the two slayers were laying face to face, their arms still wrapped around each other.

They lay there for several moments, hazel and brown eyes lost in each other. Faith nuzzled her nose against Buffy's, silently showing her affection.

"Do you have any idea how in love with you I am?" Buffy sighed softly.

Faith smiled and held her arms apart as far as they would go. "This much?"

Buffy giggled and shook her head. "Much, much more," she said as she reached her arms out to take Faith's hands in her own. She leaned back on top of Faith and kissed her passionately. When they finally had to pause for air, Faith took the opportunity to flip Buffy over, reclaiming the top. She pressed her lips back into Buffy's. The slayers continued this back and forth for awhile, happy to have the opportunity to laze around trading kisses all morning.

When they finally separated, Faith trailed her tongue over to Buffy's ear and gently took the lobe in her mouth. "I love you," she breathed into Buffy's ear, making the blonde shiver. Faith knew she would never get tired of saying that. Then she began to kiss her way down to Buffy's neck, quickly drawing a moan from the blonde slayer.

After they had both climaxed, Faith crawled back into Buffy's arms to give her a deep kiss. "Now _that's_ how I want to begin every day" Faith grinned, nuzzling her nose against Buffy's soft cheek.

"Oh...yeah" Buffy agreed, still having trouble breathing. Kissing Faith wasn't helping in the breathing department, but god knows she wasn't going to stop that anytime soon. She leaned in again, pushing her tongue up against Faith's.

After making out a bit, the slayers collapsed against each other again. They lay there for a few minutes, perfectly content in each others arms.

"Breakfast?" Faith asked after a few minutes.

"Absolutely," Buffy enthused and began to unzip the tent to get out.

Faith caught her arm, "uh, B?"

Buffy turned, "Yeah, baby?"

"Uh, I mean I'm totally cool with it, but I feel like the rest of the scoobs might have a problem with the au naturál look, ya know?"

Buffy laughed as she realized her nudity. Faith made her feel so comfortable, she hadn't even thought about it.

"Although," Faith pondered, "Xander probably wouldn't have a problem with it and Anya seems pretty chill. Plus Red and T are lesbians and you're like the hottest girl in the whole world, so.."

"Ew, Faith!" Buffy said, slapping her arm playfully. She stopped when she realized what Faith had said. "What was that last part?" she asked, smiling.

"Red and Tar. I mean, they seem really into each other, but I doubt they'd mind a peek-"

Buffy slapped her arm playfully again, "Not that, dork. The other part. It was really sweet. You do that a lot, ya know."

"Do what?" Faith asked with a smile.

"The thing where you're really sweet to me without even trying," Buffy said, cupping Faith's face in her hands. "It's one of the countless things I love about you," she continued before kissing Faith.

Soon the slayers actually got dressed and made their way into Xander's house. Xander and Anya were listening to Giles complaining about his back hurting from sleeping on a beanbag, while Willow and Tara were snuggled together watching cartoons in bed. Buffy thought it was obvious from their body language and closeness that they were together, but apparently no one else had noticed.

"Any breakfasty things around?" Buffy asked as the slayers walked through the door.

"Cereal?" Xander said, pointing to a box of cereal and a cartoon of milk sitting close to where Willow and Tara were sitting. "How was the the outdoor-age?"

"Great" both slayers said at the same time. This caused Willow and Tara to get gigantic grins on their faces. They smiled wider as they noticed the slayers' disheveled appearances. Buffy smiled sheepishly at them as she sat on the edge of their bed and poured a bowl of cereal. She then handed it to Faith who sat down beside her. The slayers exchanged a quick smile before turning their attention to the T.V. as they ate.

_TBC!_


	7. Chapter 6: Superstar

_I know I've been doing a fic per episode so far, but I skipped "This Year's Girl" and "Who are you?" since Faith was (obviously) never in a coma in my happy little world! This is a short chapter that takes place during "Superstar," which means things are gonna be a little wonky at first. Starts right at the beginning and then kinda skips around. _

**Chapter 6: Superstar**

"You're right," Buffy conceded, staring at the nest of vampires, "It's too many for just us. You know who we need."

The others nodded and they quickly backed away from the crypt and started toward Jonathan's house. _Well_, Buffy smiled, _at least we get to go see Jonathan. He's so cool..._

And at least it would get her mind off Faith waking up from her coma and trying to steal her body. _God_, she thought, _what the hell was it with her? First she had turned evil and joined the mayor, then tried to kill Angel, and the first thing she does when she wakes up is try to kill me!_

Buffy realized she must still be shaken up from that whole ordeal, which would explain why she felt so...off. During the fight with the vampires earlier, she'd barely been able to keep up with them. And then she had to retreat, even though she was the slayer!

On the other hand, Buffy had to call on Jonathan for help quite a bit of the time, so that was nothing new... Like when Faith had woken up and Jonathan figured out how to switch their bodies back or when Giles turned into a demon and Jonathan had beaten up Ethan and switched them back.

No, it felt like something else was wrong too, but Buffy couldn't really put a finger on it. Like...a part of her was missing or something. Like something that was there just a few minutes ago was gone now and it had left a giant hole...

Buffy didn't know how to explain it, but she knew something was off. _Oh well_, she sighed, _I guess it can wait until after Jonathan helps us get rid of this vamp nest._

()()()()()()()()()()()

As Anya told her about the possibility of alternate universes, Buffy began to grow intrigued.

And very, very frustrated.

"The shrimp metaphor isn't really helping, Anya..."

"Well, you're the one that keeps asking me these questions! 'Anya, what if there was a universe with no shrimp?' 'Anya, what if there was a universe with nothing but shrimp?"

"I never said either of those things!"

"Well, excuse me! Sorry I can't help you with whatever problem you're having." Anya paused a second, eying the Jonathan autobiography in her hand. "So, good talk, Buffy. You were just leaving, right?"

Buffy rubbed her eyes in frustration. "One more time, Anya— in this alternate universe everything would be different, right? Even things that didn't have to do with...shrimp."

"Sure, everything in the alternate reality could be different...up could be down, red could mean go and green could mean stop, Jonathan could not be the hottest guy ever. ...So now we're done?"

"So even if the point was just not to have shrimp, red could mean go and green could mean stop even though that has nothing to do with shrimp?"

"Right, although shrimp is red."

"But that has nothing to do with stoplights! Stop with the shrimp facts!"

Anya shrugged, "you're the one who brought it up..."

"UGH!" Buffy stormed off.

"What the hell's up her skirt?" Anya wondered as Buffy left Xander's basement.

Frustrating as Anya was, she had actually started something going in Buffy's mind. If there could be a spell that would change the world, maybe that would explain why everything felt so...off. Why Jonathan was so perfect and nobody thought that it was strange at all.

But most of all, maybe it would help to explain why she felt like something...someone?...was missing from her life. If changing a whole universe would change weird little things too, then maybe that could explain it...

Buffy sighed. Or maybe this was just the way she was supposed to feel. Like there was someone out there that would complete her life but she wouldn't ever be able to connect with them...

But maybe...

Buffy decided she would at least try to tell the others about the alternate universe thing and see if anyone had any ideas. While her first instinct was to call Jonathan, a part of her decided that it would be better not too. What if he really was a part of all this weirdness somehow? Somehow he seemed just a little too perfect...

()()()()()()()()()()()

As the demon fell down into the canyon, Buffy could feel the world shift. It was almost imperceptible; kind of like a sense of deja vu. The strangest part was that she could feel parts of Jonathan's created world swirling around the things she began to remember. At first it was difficult to discern which parts belonged to which world, but soon the Jonathan world parts began to lose their intensity and they began to feel kind of like a dream. A very weird dream.

Buffy began wandering away from the cave in a kind of daze, as if her feet were moving of their own free will in order to return to where they should have been before Jonathan's spell. The memories started to filter in at a faster pace, leaving Buffy dizzy. The Jonathan memories were the first to go, thank god, but it was a little harder for Buffy to recover all the truths that those lies had hidden.

Slowly she remembered that she was the one who had killed the Master; the one who saved the world all those times. She had killed Angel and the Mayor and...

Buffy saw a flash of bouncy brown hair and then she remembered everything. Her world turned upside down. Or right side up.

Buffy stopped in her tracks as she remembered the smell of Faith's hair and how smooth her skin felt. The gentle patter of her heart as Buffy lay on her chest, the way her eyebrows wiggled when she was making a dirty joke. Her dimples. The way her soft brown eyes would look at Buffy when they woke up in each others' arms.

As her memories returned, Buffy got to fall in love with Faith all over again.

She broke into a sprint towards Faith's hotel room, needing to see her. To reassure herself that what they had was real and not somehow left over from the other world. Deep down, Buffy knew it wasn't, though. Faith _was _her world.

It wasn't until Buffy got to Faith's hotel room and saw the broken door that she remembered about the commandos sending those demons to kill them. At least that's what happened in the real world. Buffy could also faintly remember Jonathan overthrowing the U.S. Government and getting rid of the commandos...

She quickly turned around and ran toward Xander's. Everyone else was there, but not Faith. Buffy panicked a little when no one else had seen her. On a whim, Buffy decided to try her dorm room.

Before she even got halfway up the stairs to her floor, Buffy could feel it. The connection was just as strong as it ever was. She knew Faith was there. She quickly sprinted down the hallway and burst open the door to her room and saw Faith sitting on the side of her bed.

Faith looked up in surprise. "B..." she said, as if unsure of what Buffy's reaction would be. She looked shaken. Buffy knew it was because of the Jonathan universe. If Faith had somehow been evil in the other universe, what must she be feeling now?

Buffy slowly walked toward Faith and knelt in front of her. She took Faith's hands in her own and gently stroked them with her thumbs. She realized she had tears in her eyes. "Faith...I...I missed you..."

Buffy felt Faith's strong arms wrap around her, holding her tight. Faith rested her head on Buffy's shoulder as they hugged. "I missed you too" Faith whispered.

When they separated from the hug, Faith softly pressed her lips against Buffy's, letting herself melt into the feel of her mouth. Buffy pressed hard against Faith, reassuring herself of what was real.

"I love you so much" Faith whispered once their lips parted

Buffy smiled, "god, I love you so much, too." She slowly trailed kisses all around Faith's cheeks and down to her throat, licking up and down Faith's neck. Even though she could remember how Faith's skin felt and tasted, she needed to be sure those memories were real. Faith cried out softly when Buffy began to suck gently on her pulse point.

By now Faith and Buffy were both tugging at each others' clothes, needing to see and feel more. Buffy's mouth left Faith's body just long enough for Buffy to yank off Faith's tank top but was right back at it a second later. Now she kissed and licked along Faith's collarbone while her hands ran along Faith's sides and up to her waiting breasts.

"F..Fuck!" Faith swore when Buffy's lips reached her nipples, tugging on them and sucking greedily. When Buffy's fingers reached lower and dipped into her wetness, Faith came almost immediately. As soon as she did, Faith was finally sure beyond all doubt that this was real and those other memories where she wanted to hurt Buffy were nothing but some kind of terrible nightmare.

While Buffy obviously wanted to continue making Faith come and started dragging her tongue down across Faith's flat stomach toward her center, Faith was overcome with the need to touch Buffy; to make her feel the reality of this world.

Faith lifted Buffy's head and kissed her deeply, letting her tongue slide into the other girl's soft mouth. She rolled Buffy onto her back and started kissing her way down as Buffy had done, pausing to spend ample time on her neck, breasts, and bellybutton before moving further down.

Like Faith, Buffy was so worked up that she climaxed really fast. As she came, Buffy called out her love for Faith and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer. Faith snuggled in and began pressing soft, gentle kisses everywhere her lips could reach.

"B...what happened tonight?" Faith asked quietly after a bit.

Buffy squeezed Faith tighter. "Do you remember Jonathan? He, um, cast a spell that made the world all wacky. Until we killed this demon and returned it to normal."

"But why..." Faith trailed off, but Buffy knew what she meant.

"I don't know, Fai." Buffy pulled Faith up to her and gave her a deep kiss. "Anya said these kinds of spells change everything, even stuff that doesn't have anything to do with whatever thing the person wanted to change..."

"Like us." Faith finished.

Buffy nodded. "But I could feel it...the absence. Somehow I knew you had been taken away from me."

"Me too" Faith said quietly.

They kissed again and fell silent, Buffy's fingers gently tracing patterns over Faith's skin.

Faith broke the silence again: "Could it have gone down like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know, B" Faith scooted up further and looked into Buffy's eyes, "me being all crazy in love with you and jealous and doing all that shit to hurt you cuz I couldn't have ya?"

Buffy stared. "Is that what that was?"

Faith shrugged, "Yeah, that's pretty much what I remember. D'ya think it could it have happened?"

"Well," Buffy said, kissing Faith again, "I'd say it doesn't matter. Maybe there's no shrimp in some other universe, but there is here and I'm gonna enjoy it..."

Faith raised her eyebrows, "what the hell's that mean?"

Buffy smiled, "it means I love you and I'm always going to."

Faith gave Buffy a wide smile. "I love you too, Buffy."

As Buffy laid her head onto Faith's chest and felt Faith's strong arms wrap around her, she realized that she was home again.

When Faith felt Buffy's lips press a soft kiss right on top of her heart and give her body a tight squeeze, she knew she was too.

And so both slayers let the memories of the alternative universe fade into oblivion as they held each other close, knowing their love was the only thing that really mattered.

_TBC..._


	8. Chapter 7: Wild Things

**Chapter 7: Where the Wild Things Are**

"Oh my god, I've got it" Willow exclaimed, looking up from her laptop.

The scoobies all looked up from their research materials. After the whole Jonathan-world distraction, they were still no closer to finding out why the commandos had sent demons to attack Buffy and Faith nor what Ethan's "project 314" was all about. So they had gone back to Xander's basement to research, which didn't exactly make anyone very happy.

"You've found a lead on our commandos?" Giles asked Willow, setting his cup of tea down and sitting beside her.

"Well, maybe..." Willow replied, squinting at the computer screen, "look." She turned her screen toward Giles who looked back up at Willow in bewilderment.

He squinted into the computer screen and shook his head. "And what pray tell am I looking at?"

"This official UC Sunnydale record has been doctored! Added in it looks like. And this is the commando who was me and Buffy's psych TA."

"What d'ya mean added?" Buffy asked from her seat across the room.

"I mean 'Riley Finn' is not a real student. His file was added by someone outside the university system." Willow pointed at the screen, "and look at all that code. This is a professional job."

"So the military added him to the system?" Giles asked.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, and I think..." She typed rapidly. "...Got it! Yep, I found a bunch of other files that were added the same way! Forest, Graham... wow, there is a ton..."

"So these are all our solider boys?" Xander asked.

"Looks like," Willow replied. "...huh."

"Good huh?" Buffy leaned forward.

"Maybe. They all belong to the same frat. Every single one of them."

"Ugh, they totally seem like frat guys" Buffy rolled her eyes.

"A fraternity strikes me as a good place to hide in plain sight" Giles reasoned.

"So whatever's going on might be going on at this frat?" Buffy finished.

"Five by five. Let's go fuck 'em up!" Faith said enthusiastically from beside Buffy. All this research was not exactly Faith's idea of a good time...

Giles raised his hands to calm Faith. "That might not be the best idea. I'm quite sure they have round the clock surveillance and won't let anyone outside the organization inside-."

"They're having a party Saturday night!" Willow interrupted.

"So let's fuck 'em up once they're wasted?" Faith tried.

"Or..." Willow proposed, "we could sneak inside, pretend we're just there for the party and then snoop around?"

"It might just work" Giles reasoned.

"Fine," Faith slumped back dejectedly, "but I'm spilling shit all over their furniture."

Buffy grinned and brushed her fingers along Faith's hand, drawing a smile from the brunette.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Xander and Anya were the first to arrive at the party. Since the commandos didn't know who they were, they figured that they would be able to snoop around fairly easily. Willow and Tara entered next, trying to blend in and look as inconspicuous as possible while trying to test for magical energy in the area.

Once they were sure that the coast was clear, Buffy and Faith entered the house and quickly ran upstairs. They figured that there was no way the commandos wouldn't recognize _them_ so it was probably best to keep out of sight...

"Be careful," Buffy told Faith, "this one time I went to a frat house they tried to sacrifice me to this weird phallic-y demon."

"I'm gonna need the rest of that story sometime, B" Faith laughed.

They had just begun peeking in a couple of bedrooms when they heard some footsteps coming up the stairs and quickly ducked into a closet. Faith down and Buffy quickly crawled into her arms. The closet was pretty cramped so they were pressed close together. Which neither slayer minded at all, of course.

By the time the footsteps outside were gone, both of them had forgotten the reason for their journey into the frat house. Buffy leaned up and kissed Faith softly, needing to feel her soft skin under her lips. Since they had been with the rest of the scoobies all day, they hadn't had the chance to get their daily kissage in. She slowly dragged her tongue around Faith's chin and neck, giving little affectionate licks that made the brunette moan. Faith couldn't imagine anything feeling better than Buffy's wet tongue gliding across her skin.

Faith soon began kissing her way down Buffy's neck, too, stopping frequently to licking and bite gently. Faith then licked her way over to Buffy's left ear, which she knew was one of the blonde's most sensitive spots. Faith gently blew into her ear and whispered how much she loved her.

Buffy shivered as she felt Faith's hot breath spilling over her and pulled Faith's body closer. She loved when Faith whispered sweet things like that—and t always made her so hot. She whimpered as Faith's tongue licked around her ear and gently tugged on her earrings. Then she moaned louder when Faith nibbled tenderly.

When Faith started kissing and nibbling her way over to Buffy's other ear, Buffy slowly ran her fingers up Faith's shirt and let them gently tickle the brunette's sides. Faith murmured her approval as she repeated her actions on Buffy's other ear.

When Buffy felt like she was about ready to come just from that, Faith gently pushed her back against the wall and began kissing her way under Buffy's top. Buffy shivered with pleasure as Faith's mouth began to lavish attention on her tummy and up to her breasts. Buffy loved how Faith could make her feel, and not just physically, but emotionally, too. Faith made her feel like every part of her body was special and worthy of attention.

Soon Faith's hands slid lower and Buffy was soon coming under Faith's touch, biting her lip to keep from crying out too loud. When her tremors had slowed she leaned up and softly kissed Faith.

"I love you," she whispered softly over the brunette's lips before slipping her tongue back into mouth. As Buffy's tongue met Faith's, her hands began to work their way down the brunette's body, slowly touching, pinching, and teasing anywhere she could.

"God that feels..oh fuck, B" Faith managed to stammer as Buffy's tongue slipped down her body, leaving a wet trail of saliva in its wake. Buffy stopped to lick right around where Faith's hipbone jutted out, which soon made her moan in frustration.

"Quit...teasin'!" Faith groaned, causing Buffy to look up and smile evilly. She loved making Faith squirm like this so that when she finally gave Faith what she wanted, the release would be so much better...

But Buffy thought Faith looked extra riled up tonight—her skin was all flush, her pupils were the size of quarters, and she kept making these little whimpering sounds—so she didn't tease her _that _much longer.

When her tongue finally dipped lower, Faith cried out in satisfaction and grabbed onto Buffy's hair, gripping it tightly until she climaxed.

When Faith let go of her hair after she had kissed her way back up to the brunette, Buffy shook her head. "No...don't stop pulling my hair" Buffy breathed into her ear.

Faith growled appreciatively, gently pulling on Buffy's hair and making her moan again.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Downstairs, the others soon began to realize that something was amiss. It had started pleasantly enough—a little more making out than was normal this early into a party maybe, but nobody was complaining.

...until some chick started chopping her hair off in a downstairs closet and Anya saw a ghost.

Tara was the first one to notice that something was obviously amiss, magic-wise. There was some kind of weird, dark energy pulsating through the party that was manifesting itself in both sexy and terrifying, not so sexy ways...

"Um...we need to get out of h-here!" Tara decided after the dark magic started to spike wildly, causing one partygoer to run out of a bathroom screaming, her body soaked head to toe with water.

"Where are Faith and Buffy?" Xander asked, looking around worriedly.

"Forget them!" Anya decided, "they're all super powered up anyway!" She began to drag Xander towards the door.

"They went upstairs," Willow remembered, "I'll go find them!" She turned and rolled her eyes when she saw that Anya and Xander were already out the door, no where to be seen.

"Be careful," Tara said, a concerned look flitting across her blue eyes.

Willow smiled, "I will, baby." Then, without thinking about it, she leaned forward and kissed Tara right in front of all the other party goers. Tara was shocked, but quickly responded in kind.

"Um..heh, yeah...upstairs..." Willow stammered as her mouth separated from Tara's. Tara's face was bright red, but she smiled and nodded as she exited the party.

_Oh my goddess, what was I thinking? _Willow wondered as she slowly climbed the stairs. She and Tara hadn't really talked about how or when they were going to make their relationship known, or least to people other than Buffy and Faith. Yet here she had gone and kissed her right in front of a bunch of strangers! Willow shook her head. What had come over her?

As she got to the top of the stairs, Willow felt whatever weird energy there was circulating tenfold. She slowly peaked into a couple of bedrooms but didn't see anything out of the ordinary there. Willow thought the magic potency up here was kinda weird since it seemed pretty much deserted. So where were Buffy and Faith?

Willow was about to go downstairs when she noticed a couple of closets by the stairs. She shrugged and gave the first one a pull. Nothing in there. When she tried to open the second one,though, it stubbornly remained shut. Willow tried with all her might and still nothing. Figuring it was stuck, she tried to magic it open. Still nothing.

_Hmm. _Willow realized that the magical energy she had felt up here seemed to be congregating around here, too... Willow tried another spell, but it was still no good.

"Damnit!" she swore as she kicked the door. That, of course, was also unsuccessful. _What could be in there? _She put her ear close to the door, listening intently. She could hear some kind of movement...

Like a rustling? Willow frowned and tried to magically augment her hearing. She leaned forward again...

And she heard Faith moaning Buffy's name.

Willow jumped back, her eyes huge. She shook her head. _Why the hell do they have to do that now when there is obviously evil that needs slayin'!? _She banged on the door loudly.

"Buffy! Faith! Um, Stop what you're doing and come outside!" Her shouts were to no avail, either. As she continued to bang on the door, she felt a powerful presence encircle her and force her away from the door. She struggled, but was no match and was unceremoniously thrown down the stairs.

She tried briefly to go back upstairs, but some force was stopping her.

"Damnit!" she quickly ran outside to find the others.

"Well, where are they?" Xander asked.

"Um, I think that whatever is going on in the house has them trapped..." Willow decided she would certainly be keeping the _rest _of what was going on a secret, at least until she could speak to Tara in private.

"So, um, should we go find M-Mr. Giles?" Tara offered.

Willow nodded, brushing Tara's shoulder as the four of them took one last look at the house and walked off.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Oh god, B" Faith breathed, collapsing back into Buffy's arms. She had lost track of the times she came, but really wasn't too concerned to be honest. The air was thick and hot—although she assumed that was more an effect of all the sex that they were having than it was the closet's fault. It smelled like pure sex, which was pretty much the greatest odor of all time for Faith. Especially when it was Buffy she was smelling... She breathed deep, inhaling the girl's sweet scent as she curled up into her arms.

She thought that maybe a little nap might be in order before they started again, but all thoughts of taking a break vanished the second that she felt Buffy licking up the sweat that had begun to pool at the bottom of her throat. All her desire instantly flared up again and she was powerless to resist. Buffy could always make her feel like this; like she could never have enough of her... Plus, Buffy had the stamina to match her's.

"C'mon, Faithy," Buffy purred in between deep licks, "not time for sleep yet..."

"Oh my god, B..."Faith groaned appreciatively as Buffy began to kiss her way down her body...

()()()()()()()()()()

After a little research had uncovered the existence of the Lowell home for children and the decidedly aged but still living former director Mrs. Holt, Willow pulled Tara aside.

"Um, so there's something else I might not have, ahem, hold the rest of them..."

"What is it, honey?" Tara looked concerned.

Willow smiled, "Well, it's about _what _Buffy and Faith were doing."

"Oh," Tara blushed.

Willow nodded. "Yeah..."

"We, um, shouldn't tell the rest unless w-we have to" Tara said, "but... this might change things a bit..."

"Like with the magic?" Willow asked.

Tara nodded, "there are a lot of um, spirits that are triggered by...sex."

"I figured," Willow sighed, "maybe we can do some extra research after we get back from visiting Mrs. Holt..."

()()()()()()()()()()

But Mrs. Holt had inadvertently given them a pretty big clue when she had gone on and on about how "dirty" her former kids were. It was pretty obvious to Willow that the spell had something to do with Buffy and Faith and their...closeted activities.

While the others had obviously been aghast at Mrs. Holt's attitude toward her former charges, they hadn't really latched onto the sex thing since they had no idea about what Buffy and Faith were doing. Willow wanted to ask a couple more questions, but hadn't really wanted to do so in front of the others since they might get an idea of what was really going on. Willow wasn't a big fan of keeping things from them, but she agreed with Tara that it should be up to Buffy and Faith to tell the rest of them.

Plus, it wasn't like Willow wasn't keeping a similar secret herself...

So as the others went on ahead to do more research, Willow and Tara hung back outside of Mrs. Holt's door.

"You, um, thinking what I'm thinking?"

Tara nodded nervously.

Willow politely knocked on the door again and she and Tara were quickly admitted by Mrs. Holt again.

"Um, sorry Mrs. Holt," Willow said quickly, "We...um, just thought of a couple more questions..."

"Oh, fine, fine," Mrs. Holt said, gesturing for them to sit.

The witches sat on the loveseat together, Willow shivering as Tara's soft skin brushed up against hers.

"Well, um..." Willow started nervously, "I was wondering if you could tell us a little more about...how you..helped the dirty children..."

"Well," Mrs. Holt responded, still smiling, "I washed their souls clean, you see. Some of them had very dirty thoughts. Very vain and improper."

"W-Washed?" Tara asked.

"Their souls were reborn in the water," Mrs. Holt explained, "some took longer than others..."

Willow remembered the girl who had been drenched at the party. "You held them under?!"

Mrs. Holt's eyes darkened. "I don't believe I like your tone! I did what needed to be done to make them clean again!"

"M-Maybe we s-should just g-go" Tara stammered nervously, starting to get up.

"I think you best!" Mrs Holt replied harshly to Tara, "and don't think I don't know the two of you are covered in sin! Your actions are an abomination!"

"I..." Tara tried to hide behind her hair, her eyes filling with tears.

Willow exploded: "How dare you talk to her like that, you bitch! Tara is the sweetest person I've ever met and I love her more than anything! There's nothing wrong about that, you...you..."

Willow couldn't even think she was so furious, but when she looked over at Tara and saw the blonde smiling at her words, all her anger instantly evaporated. She took a deep breath, calmly took Tara's hand and marching out, flipping Mrs. Holt off as they left.

()()()()()()()()()()

After they had located a counter-spell, Tara lead Giles and Anya in a chant to break the spell so that Willow could go inside and extract the slayers. Willow reasoned that she should be the one to go in since it was rather unlikely that either slayer would be...presentable.

Soon, with the help of the chanters downstairs, Willow forced her way into the closet door and could feel the spell evaporate immediately.

"Oh my god, Will! You should knock next time!" Buffy quickly covered herself with one of the coats from the closet.

Willow instantly reddened. "Uh, guys? I've been banging on the door for a while. Didn't you feel it?"

"Feel what?!" Buffy said, pulling on her shirt and pants as Willow averted her eyes. She nudged Faith, telling her to do the same thing. Faith shrugged and complied.

"You guys were under some kind of spell" Willow explained, "it was making weird stuff go on all over the house."

"Spell?" Faith asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, I don't think we were under a spell, Will..." Buffy replied.

"Uh, hello? You two were having sex nonstop for like five hours in a closet in some strange house!"

Buffy shrugged.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Faith asked, "that sounds like me an' B..."

Buffy reddened a little but nodded at her girlfriend.

Willow sighed, exasperated. She turned and walked off grumbling, "...go to all the trouble to break a curse created by some old homophobic hag and this is the thanks I get..."

Buffy and Faith got up and stepped out into the hallway.

"So, your place?" Faith grinned.

Buffy nodded quickly and took Faith's hand.

"So what happened with the party, Will?" Buffy called ahead to Willow.

_TBC..._


	9. Chapter 8: New Moon Rising

_A/N: As always, I appreciate the reads/reviews! This chapter gave me some trouble since I feel like the mood of the episode dictates a certain seriousness that I'm not very good at (although it's by no means angsty—if you've read this far, you can probably tell I'm not a fan of the angst)._

**Chapter 8: New Moon Rising**

RING!

Faith blinked her eyes open slowly at the sound of the phone. Slowly lifting her head from Buffy's shoulder, she glanced over at the blonde's clock and groaned when she saw it was only 8:30.

RING!

She turned back to her girlfriend, who was somehow still asleep. Faith tried to get to the phone, but it was on Buffy's side and the blonde was laying on top of her right arm, leaving it just out of reach.

RING!

"B..." Faith whined, "answer your phone!" She tried to stuff a pillow over her ears, nudging Buffy gently.

Buffy groaned, but reached up and snatched the phone from its spot beside her bed. "H-Hello?" she answered sleepily, sitting up in bed. She smiled at Faith, who looked like she had already gone back to sleep. _Of course, it had been a rather long night, _Buffy thought with a grin.

She turned her attention back to the phone call. She nearly dropped the phone when she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Oh my god!" she managed, which caused Faith to turn toward her and peek an eye open.

"No...she's not" Buffy sputtered into the phone. Faith quickly sat up, looking inquisitively at Buffy who just shook her head.

"O...kay. No...i won't...fine...bye." Buffy felt like she was in a daze as she returned the phone to its cradle.

"What the hell was that, B?" Faith yawned, entwining her fingers with Buffy's and giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"It was...Oz." Buffy replied.

"Wolf boy?" Faith asked, "Shit, didn't think we'd be hearing from him. Where's he at anyway? Tanzania or some shit like that?"

Buffy shook her head, "No, L.A."

"L.A.?"

Buffy nodded. "He's...well, he's going to be back here...tonight."

"Oh..." Faith managed.

"Yeah, I know...I didn't know what to say. He asked for Willow..."

Faith frowned. "B..."

"I know," Buffy replied softly, squeezing Faith's hand, "...then he said not to tell her he was coming. He wants to surprise her..."

"So what, he just thinks Red's gonna just be waiting for him?" Faith asked, clearly irritated.

Buffy shrugged, "honestly... it kinda sounds like it. But you remember how attached they were. He probably just assumed..."

"But you don't think-" Faith quickly cut herself off.

"What?" Buffy asked, scooting closer to Faith and playing with a strand of her hair.

"She's not gonna...go back?" Faith asked, her voice a little raw. Buffy was a little surprised at how upset about this whole thing Faith was.

"I don't think so...but...I don't know..." Buffy tried. She really had no idea. Willow seemed happier now than she'd ever been before and she and Tara were so close... But on the other hand, it was Oz...

"She better not..." Faith said quickly, feeling a hot flash of anger, "I mean, what, was this just some college experiment thing and then it's back to driving stick?"

Buffy paused, studying her lover closely. "Faith..." Buffy ran her thumb gently across Faith's cheek, "...I think I'm starting to see some subtext here..."

Faith leaned into Buffy's touch, letting the blonde's calm strokes soothe her. She shook her head, "no B, I'm not...I just..."

Buffy leaned forward and captured Faith's lips with her own. Her tongue began to glide across Faith's soft lips before the brunette pulled it into her mouth.

"Faith," Buffy whispered once their lips pulled apart, "whatever choice Willow makes, it doesn't mean anything about us and what we have." She kissed her softly. "I. Love. You." she said slowly, punctuating each word with another kiss. "This was never about experimenting with a girl. It's always been about being with you. It's about loving you so much that I feel like my heart is gonna explode. And nothing will ever change how I feel about you."

"Buffy...I know...I just..." Quickly blinking away the wetness pooling in her eyes, Faith lowered her voice to a whisper. "I don't think I've ever really been happy before. Not like I am with you. I...I'm not good with words, but I just wish I could explain how much I love you..."

"But I know, Faith," Buffy smiled breathlessly at her, "I can feel it every time you touch me."

Faith's mouth curled up into a smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Buffy nodded. "So anytime you wanna tell me, just kiss me."

Faith nodded and pressed her smiling lips against Buffy's, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

()()()()()()()()

When Buffy had to go to class, Faith decided to go for a walk, chiding herself for being so stupid earlier. She knew Buffy loved her, it was just hard for her to accept how lucky she was sometimes. She had never had anything like this before—had never been so happy before—so a little part of her was still afraid that it would all be taken away from her. For the first time in her life, she had trusted someone else with her feelings and emotions. And sometimes it kinda scared her a little.

But she realized Buffy had never given her any reason to be scared. Buffy had always been there for her. Like today, she had walked Buffy to her class like she always did, and Buffy had given her a little goodbye kiss right outside the doorway in front of all her classmates. Little things like that meant a lot to Faith. It showed how much Buffy really loved her. That Buffy would never let what people thought get in the way of how she felt for Faith.

So yeah, she had been stupid to doubt Buffy's love, even for a second; even unconsciously. Faith wanted to do something nice for Buffy to make up for her mental lapse, so she decided she would walk downtown and get Buffy lunch at this sandwich place she loved and bring it back to campus for her. Buffy always loved when she did stuff like that.

But first, there was something else she had to do which Faith was not really looking forward to. She and Buffy had decided they wouldn't tell anyone about Oz coming since he had asked them not to, but Buffy had agreed to the one exception Faith wanted to make:

Faith wanted to let Tara know.

Even though Faith was almost positive that Willow wouldn't go back to Oz, she didn't want Tara to get blindsided either way. Tara deserved to know. Plus, she and Tara had become pretty close friends lately. They would hang out most days whenever Buffy and Willow had class at the same time. Faith really liked spending time with her, too: Tara always had a different way of thinking about everything, which Faith thought was pretty cool. Plus Faith liked to tease her about her and Willow's sex life since she would get really, really embarrassed. That was always fun.

So Faith figured it was the right thing to do to let Tara know what was going on. More importantly, she wanted to do what she could to reassure her so that she wouldn't totally freak when Oz did show.

Faith took a deep breath after she made it to the blonde witch's dorm room before knocking on the door quietly.

"Hello?" Tara answered the door quickly, "Oh, h-hi Faith!"

"Hey, T, you got a minute?" Faith asked nervously. Even though she thought it was the right thing to do, she really hated having to do it.

Tara smiled and nodded, opening the door wide enough for Faith to come inside. Faith sat down slowly and turned to face Tara, not really sure how to begin. Heart to hearts weren't really her strong suit.

Tara noticed something was wrong immediately. "What's wrong?" she asked, her concern for Faith apparent in her voice.

"It's probably nothin', T..." Faith started, "..I'm sure nothing's gonna come of it..."

"Faith, w-what is it?" Tara asked softly.

Faith took a deep breath. "B got a call this morning. It was Oz."

"Oh." Tara said, her voice cracking.

"He's comin' back into town tonight. Guess he's been in L.A. Anyway, Red, er, Willow doesn't know yet..."

"Oh." Tara repeated softly, looking downward.

"He told B not to tell anyone, but we agreed you should know..."

Tara nodded, a small tear escaping down her cheek.

Faith put a comforting hand on her shoulder and tried to reassure her as best she could. "Look, you really shouldn't worry tho'. Will is crazy about you... I've seen the way you two are together."

Tara nodded slowly, "I k-know, but..."

Faith shook her head, "-but nothing, T. I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't be wigged when he shows."

Tara smiled, wiping her eyes.

"Or, if you want, I'll kick his ass for you," Faith offered with a smile.

Tara laughed quietly. "Thanks, F-Faith" she said, drawing Faith into a friendly hug.

"Do ya wanna walk with me downtown? I'm gonna get some lunch for me and B," Faith asked after they had separated.

Tara shook her head, "N-no t-thanks, I'm supposed to m-meet Willow soon. S-she has a test so she'll be out of c-class early."

Faith nodded. "Look, Tar...there's another reason I wanted to tell you. If ya want, I think you should tell Willow yourself. Like I said, don't think it'll matter. But if ya think it'll help..."

Tara shook her head. "Thanks, but I'll wait. I don't want to pressure her. I want her to do what makes her h-happy..."

"You make her happy, T" Faith reminded her as they hugged goodbye.

Tara nodded, smiling at her friend.

()()()()()()()()

Buffy left her classroom frowning. There had been a pop quiz and she hadn't remembered any of it even though she had done the reading. She was pretty sure most of it wasn't even in the reading... _Humph! _She sighed angrily.It was enough to put anybody in a bad mood.

Then, exiting the building, she immediately forgot all about it when she saw Faith standing there holding lunch from her favorite place that was all the way across town.

She smiled widely as Faith strolled up sexily to her. Buffy threw her arms around Faith, pulling her into a deep kiss. "You are the sweetest girlfriend ever" Buffy smiled happily as their lips parted.

"I love you, B" Faith whispered softly into ear.

Buffy felt her eyes well up at Faith's sweetness. "I love you too, Faith."

She slipped her hand into Faith's and the two walked over to a nearby table to have their lunch.

()()()()()()()()

That night, Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Tara were all at The Bronze for a previously scheduled double date—or "lesbians night out" as Willow referred to their nights out together. Ironically enough, the bronze was also where Oz said he was headed as soon as he got into town as well. The unfortunate coincidence was not lost on the others, but they figured it would be best to just go on about their evening as if nothing was different. Willow had noticed the others acting funny a couple of times, but someone had always managed to change the subject or distract her.

But soon enough, Oz walked through the front doors, glancing around the large room. When they saw him enter, the others went silent for a moment and subtly glanced in Willow's direction. Tara could feel her heart beating so fast that she could barely breathe.

Willow's shock at Oz standing there in the doorway was plain to see. He quickly noticed them and slowly walked over to their table.

Willow couldn't move or speak as she slowly processed the information. She was surprised when she realized how little she had thought about him the last couple of months. In fact, she realized that she hadn't given him a second's thought since that night her spell had gone wrong with Buffy and Faith. Willow smiled when she thought of how well both she and Buffy had kept their 'no boys' promise.

But she knew it wasn't the promise that had given her other things to think about: it was Tara. She realized she needed to let Oz know where they stood. It wouldn't be fair to him otherwise. She slowly leaned forward in her seat as Oz came up to their table, but she also reached out her hand to take Tara's. She also needed Tara to know that it was her she would choose. That it would always be her.

Buffy and Faith noticed the subtle gesture and smiled in relief. Tara finally let out a breath when she felt Willow's hand in hers.

"Hi" Willow faced Oz nervously, unconsciously tightening her grip on her girlfriend's hand.

"Hey." Oz replied, his face expressionless.

"Wha...what are you doing here?" Willow managed.

Oz shrugged and evaded her real question. "I'm staying with Devon while I'm in town. He's playing here tonight."

Willow looked confused. "Oz..." Willow started, " what... it's...surprised...surprising... but g-good to see you." She took a deep breath. "I... I want you to meet someone. This is my girlfriend, Tara."

Tara smiled nervously, "h-happy to m-meet you." Willow instinctively put a protective arm around her girlfriend, giving her shoulders a quick squeeze.

"Huh" Oz stated flatly. His demeanor didn't change, but everyone could tell he was a little taken aback. "Hi," he finally said to Tara, giving a small smile at the blonde witch.

Soon Oz took an offered seat and somewhat awkwardly talked about his trip and all the places he'd gone. The others were particularly interested in how Oz had been able to cure himself of his curse. Overall, Oz didn't say much, but was amicable enough.

After he left to go meet Devon, the others decided it was time for them to pack it in for the evening as well.

Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Faith all started the walk back to the dorms, both couples holding hands. Like most nights, Willow and Tara would stay in Tara's room while Buffy and Faith would stay in Buffy and Willow's room.

Willow and Tara walked a little bit behind the other two. When they were almost there, Willow turned to Tara and smiled. "You've been kinda quiet tonight, honey, is everything okay?"

Tara smiled back at her girlfriend. "Everything is perfect. It was just a little weird finally meeting Oz."

"Yeah, but I'm glad it happened, cos it made me realize something." Willow replied.

"What?" Tara asked gently.

"That there is only one thing that I want for the rest of my life" Willow said, stopping to look into Tara's eyes.

"What?" Tara repeated, taking Willow's other hand in hers as well.

Willow smiled. "You." Then she leaned forward and pulled Tara into a deep kiss and wrapped her arms around her tightly.

"Hey, c'mon you two!" Buffy complained from up ahead a little "We all wanna make out with our girlfriends, but let's get back to campus to do it!"

The witches giggled and ran to catch up with Buffy and Faith.

Faith chuckled at the witches, sharing a conspiratorial smile with Tara before turning her attention back to the only thing she wanted for the rest of her life.

Buffy smiled back at Faith, giving her a quick kiss and nuzzling her nose into Faith's neck. Faith's arm tightened around Buffy's shoulder, and slayers led the way back to the dorms.

_TBC..._


	10. Chapter 9: YokoPrimeval

_A/N: I'm gonna combine Yoko Factor and Primeval since most of the latter is fight scenes which I don't really wanna write! I'm of the opinion that adding Faith to any fight is gonna make it a lot easier for the scoobies anyways. That also means that this is the final chapter (there will be a short epilogue for "restless" tho), so thank you so much for reading along. And a special thanks to everyone who left feedback!_

**Chapter 9: Yoko Factor/ Primeval**

"So wolf boy's totally gone?" Faith asked Buffy, hopping onto a tombstone as she walked alongside her.

"Looks like," Buffy stopped as Faith surveyed the area for freshly dug graves, "when Xander went to go say hi this morning, Devon said he'd already left."

"Doesn't really surprise me."

"Nope," Buffy agreed, "once he saw Willow had moved on, seems like he'd wanna get out post-hasty."

"Over there" Faith pointed at a newly risen vampire who had just managed to free himself. Since they had already slayed about five vamps during patrol that evening, Buffy didn't really feel like getting into a big fight and simply threw her stake as hard as she could at his heart. Her aim was spot on and the vamp exploded into dust.

"Nice, B" Faith appraised,"you think we should do another lap around the cemetery?" As she asked, Faith moved closer to Buffy. Buffy just gave her a cute little half smile and shook her head.

Taking the hint, Faith closed the gap between them completely and slipped her tongue into Buffy's soft mouth, making her moan in appreciation. The slayers moved down to the ground, Buffy wrapping her arms around Faith and resting her back against a headstone. The ground was damp, but the slayers didn't even notice as they sank deeper into each others' bodies.

Soon Faith was straddling Buffy and began moving her mouth down to the blonde's neck, licking up and down and giving her little affectionate nips. Buffy buried her hands in Faith's long dark hair, letting out a quiet moan whenever she felt Faith's teeth on her neck.

"Ahem"

The slayers stopped what they were doing and turned around to see Riley standing before them. Faith instinctively reached for the knife in her boot and gripped the handle, keeping it out of his eyesight. Buffy realized what Faith was doing and shifted her body to better conceal Faith's actions.

"What do you want?" Buffy asked, realizing that if he wanted them dead he wouldn't have alerted them first.

"For professional vampire killers, you two sure don't keep a close watch on your surroundings" Riley said dryly.

Faith responded by grabbing her knife and throwing it expertly in Riley's direction, instantly knocking the blaster out of his hand. The slayers hopped up from the ground and were on either side of a now unarmed Riley, scanning the area for more soldiers. Riley threw his hands up, fear definitely crossing his face.

"What was that, bitch?" Faith challenged.

"Hey, it's cool, I didn't come to fight" Riley said quickly.

"Nah, you'd rather let your commando-trained demons do that!" Buffy replied angrily.

"Look, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. The woman who ordered that attack is dead now. Somethings been going on that I didn't know about... I'm not coming as a member of the Initiative, but I need your help."

After telling them about Adam, Maggie Walsh, and the Initiative, Buffy and Faith just stood there a moment, digesting everything.

"So, your boss, who tried to kill us, made a human-cyborg-demon super monster that killed her and now you want our help to kill it?" Buffy asked, summing up the soldier's long winded speech.

"Basically, yeah."

"And it killed a kid to dissect him?" Faith asked.

"Yeah."

"Well B, that does sounds like some slayer shit" Faith admitted.

"Yeah." Buffy agreed. "What can you tell us about it?"

"I have these," Riley said, handing the slayers a bunch of computer disks, "but I don't know how to decrypt them..."

Buffy grinned, thinking Willow would enjoy the challenge. "That's not gonna be a problem."

Faith took a step towards Riley. "Look, we're doing this cuz it's what we do—save the world. That means that you are not a part of this, and we ain't working with your group, the military, anything. You stay out of our way, alright?"

Riley nodded, "Fine, whatever you say." He turned to leave.

"Wait, one more thing," Faith narrowed her eyes. "...if you or any of your soldier boys ever harm a single _hair_ on my girlfriend's head, there is not a place in this world or any other where you'll be safe from me. We understand each other?"

Riley nodded, scared to death of the look in Faith's eyes. Then he turned and left, almost jogging to get away from the dark haired slayer.

When Faith turned back towards Buffy, the blonde launched herself into Faith's arms. "What's up B?" Faith asked, quickly returning the hug.

"You're so sweet and you called me your girlfriend and I'm so happy and I love you so much!" Buffy sputtered out, burying her head into Faith's neck.

Faith pressed a kiss on Buffy's head and smiled, "Love you too B."

After she settled down, Buffy raised her head. "And you're so sexy when you're all butchy and threaten commandos," she added before kissing Faith's mouth hard.

"Wanna find a mausoleum real quick before we have to head back to report to Giles?" Faith wiggled her eyebrows.

Buffy grabbed her hand, "I swear there's one right around here..."

()()()()()()()()

"Whoa" Xander was the first to speak after the slayers had given everyone else the rundown of the Adam situation.

"Can I see those discs?" Willow asked from her spot on the floor next to Tara. Buffy handed them to the witch, brushing off some grass that had gotten on them. "Tara honey, can you hand me my laptop?"

The room went silent for a moment. Faith smirked as she saw how red Willow's face got after she realized what she said. Tara's face was pretty red too, but she turned her head and pretended to rummage around in Willow's bag even though the laptop was clearly on top.

"What's going on?" Anya demanded, not understanding why everyone got so silent all of a sudden.

"Honey?" Xander repeated the word questioningly. Faith barely stifled a laugh at his reaction, which also caused Buffy to let out a giggle.

Willow turned towards Tara, silently asking her what to do. Tara shrugged, letting her know that she would be fine with whatever Willow wanted. "Well, the thing is...and this probably isn't the best timing with the new big bad and everything, and I was going to tell you guys, and some people already know but I didn't want to tell everyone until the time was right and since we're in hiding I thought I would wait..."

"Wow Will, babble much?" Xander laughed, prompting Willow to give him a friendly elbow in the ribs.

Willow took a deep breath before exclaiming "Tara's my girlfriend!"

The room was silent again except for the sound of Giles dropping his glasses.

Anya was the first to speak: "Oh I knew that. Didn't everyone know that? It was so obvious they're always wanting to go give each other orgasms-" Anya was cut off by Faith's howling laughter.

"Yes, well, ahem," Giles started, obviously flustered, "as I hope you would have guessed, you have my support. Now, about this Adam..."

"No way G-man, you are not getting outta this that easy. I believe the topic of conversation was orga-" Faith was silenced as Buffy covered her lover's mouth with her hand.

"Faith, a word" Buffy smiled, dragging the dark-haired slayer from the room.

"C'mon B, it was just getting good!" Faith whined once they stepped outside and around the corner. Once they were out of sight, Buffy gave Faith a quick kiss and took a moment to study the girl she had fallen so hard for.

"Fai, do you mind if we tell them about us now, too? I doubt we'll ever have a better setup, and this way Giles, Xander, and Anya can find out that all of us are gay at the same time."

Faith had to pause. That little niggling voice inside of her still kind of thought Buffy would be kind of embarrassed to tell the rest of the scoobies, but Faith quickly brushed those thoughts away. She just smiled and nodded at her girlfriend, once again realizing her devotion. "Of course B. If you want to, I'm totally fine with it..."

"I want to," Buffy smiled and kissed the tip of Faith's nose, "I love you, and since I plan to spend the rest of my life loving you, everyone else might as well get used to it!"

Faith's breath caught. "I wanna spend my life with you too, B" she smiled again and softly kissed Buffy's lips, the kiss full of their promise to each other.

"So you really don't mind?" Buffy asked again.

"No way, B; I am totally five by five with the whole world knowing." Faith took Buffy's hand in hers, leading her back inside. "'sides, I assume this opens up some new and interesting public make-out possibilities?"

"Yeah, but we have to be careful we don't people heart attacks," Buffy joked, "we're kinda hot."

Faith laughed. "We are wicked hot."

When the slayers got back into the room, everyone looked like they had recovered somewhat from the news, and Willow and Tara were grinning. Buffy realized they probably suspected what the slayers' private conversation was about.

"We have some news, too." Buffy announced.

"What, are you guys gay too?" Xander chuckled at his joke. Although he didn't understand why Willow and Tara thought it was so funny that they both broke into fits of laughter.

"Got it in one, Xan" Faith smirked.

"Ha ha, very funny" Xander rolled his eyes. "Seriously, what is it?" The witches were overcome with another bout of giggles.

"Seriously, Xander. Faith and I are together." Buffy said. To illustrate the point, she took Faith's hand.

"Bloody hell" Giles muttered.

"What's that, G-man?" Faith asked.

"Any fool can see that you two have been, in your parlance, 'flirting' with one another for the last year and a half! It was only a matter of time. I hope you will all be very happy together. Now, perhaps we can get back to the villain that I'm sure will be occupying much of our time in the future?" Giles tried again to steer the conversation back to where he wanted it to be.

"I don't understand" Xander said, his face blank.

"Alright, you asked for it," Faith shrugged and took Buffy in her arms, planting a deep kiss on her girlfriend's lips.

Xander immediately fainted.

"You killed Xander!" Anya exclaimed, slapping his face to wake him up.

"Mmm," Buffy sighed as her lips parted from Faith, ignoring the commotion behind her.

Faith's breathing was also noticeably ragged. She glanced over at Anya, whose rather violent attempts at rousing Xander looked to be successful. "So, uh, looks like Xander's fine. And now you've all got this new intel, so me and B are gonna get out of here..."

"...to train, for, uh, fighting this Adam guy" Buffy added quickly.

"B, they know we're gonna go fu-"

Faith was quickly cut off by Buffy. "So!" Buffy called out as she dragged Faith from the room, "Will, good luck with the dycrypto-whatever and somebody call us when you need something slayed!"

()()()()()()()()

The next morning, Faith woke up to Buffy pressing little kisses all over her face.

"Morning, B" she replied groggily, peeking one eye open.

Buffy giggled. "26."

"Huh?" Faith sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes.

"26 kisses," Buffy explained, "is how long it took to wake you."

"You counted?" Faith asked sleepily.

"Of course," Buffy replied as if the answer was obvious, "I always count. You must have been extra tired, cos it usually only takes around 10."

Faith smiled. "You're insane, B"

Buffy shrugged and leaned into Faith's arms, sighing happily as the brunette wrapped her up tightly. She gently nestled her head right under Faith's chin and snaked her arms around Faith's waist.

"B, I totally love snuggling with you, but I'm pretty sure I coulda done it while I was asleep, too..."

Buffy laughed and leaned up to claim Faith's lips. "Let the record show that Faith Lehane, _former _winner of the 'most badass slayer award', just said she loves to snuggle."

Faith scowled, "I said I love to snuggle with _you_, not like as a general interest."

"Still counts," Buffy smiled, "but I love snuggling with you, too." She gave Faith another quick kiss and returned her head to its resting place under Faith's chin. "Besides," she explained, "I didn't just wake you up to snuggle. I also have news."

"Mmm," Faith nodded, "did Red crack those computer thingies?"

Buffy shook her head slightly. "Not yet. Tara said Will's getting frustrated about it but promises to try and calm her down. Which I begged her not to explain in any more detail."

Faith laughed. "So you talked to T?"

"Yep," Buffy said, "Will is moving in with her for next semester."

"Makes sense. So what are you gonna do?"

"Well," Buffy said, a little nervously, "I also talked to mom this morning and she agreed to pay for an off campus apartment instead of a dorm."

"Nice, B."

Buffy slowly raised her head up and looked nervously at Faith.

"What's up?" Faith asked.

"Well," Buffy started, "I...um...I was kind of hoping you might want to...live with me."

Faith smiled. "Really?"

Buffy nodded shyly.

"Yeah, of course I will" Faith nodded before kissing Buffy. As their lips parted, Buffy was smiling widely. "B, were you really worried I would say no? I mean, we haven't spent a night apart since the first time we had sex and I'm with you all the time during the day, too. Besides, I am literally living with you now. I don't have a hotel room anymore and all my things are here" Faith chuckled and pointed to a pile of her stuff in the corner.

"I know," Buffy explained, "... it just...well, it was more just the saying it, you know? I know you'd always be there anyway. It's just... now we'll be officially living together, you know?"

"Together" Faith nodded, softly kissing Buffy again.

"Great," Buffy grinned happily, "Mom'll be happy too."

Faith raised her eyebrow, "You told her about what we'll be doing in our new place?"

Buffy blushed, "Well, I didn't go into any details... But yeah, I told her I'm in love with you."

"How'd she take it?"

"She approves" Buffy smiled. "Her exact words were 'well, I'd rather have you date someone who slays vampires than someone who is one'."

Faith laughed, "I always knew Joyce was awesome."

Buffy rolled her eyes "let's not get carried away."

()()()()()()()()

Pretty soon, the slayers were startled by a loud knocking on their door. After getting dressed, they opened it to find Willow and Tara outside with the decrypted computer disks. After Tara managed to get her to stop complaining about how infuriating it was that they eventually decrypted on their own, they went over to Giles' so that Willow could show everyone the schematics about Adam and the Initiative's plans.

"Can we just go kick some ass now?" Faith complained.

"Judging by these schematics, I'd say we might be a bit out of our league" Giles said quietly.

Buffy rolled her eyes "Giles, have you met us? Nothing is out of our league when we're together."

Giles opened his mouth to reply when he was cut off by Willow.

"Together!" Willow cried out from the book she was looking at, "that's it!" She ran over to Giles and showed him. "Giles, look at this spell. We can multiply their slayer powers by fusing Buffy and Faith's essences together!"

Faith wiggled her eyebrows at Buffy, "that turn you on as much as it does me?" Buffy smirked at her.

"My god, Willow. This is quite brilliant. We could even give them the ability to cast spells in Sumerian by fusing mine along with theirs!" Giles said, ignoring Faith's comment.

Buffy grimaced, "...and it's gone." Faith frowned and nodded.

After working out the specifics of the spell, the scoobies gathered up their weapons and headed toward the Initiative's underground lair...


	11. Epilogue: Restless

_A/N: Just a super short coda to bring things to an end. A final thank you to all readers or reviewers; my first fic writing experience was a lot of fun!_

**Epilogue: Restless**

"That Adam was wicked easy for a big bad" Faith remarked as she clanged her glass together with the others.

The fight was surprisingly easy—Adam was indeed no match for a combined Buffy and Faith super slayer. So now the scoobies were back at Giles' house doing some celebrating, having just raided Giles' surprisingly ample stash of liquor and taken up residence in his living room where they planned a long night of boozing and movies. Willow, Tara, and Anya sat on Giles' plushy couch, Xander and Giles were on the floor, and Buffy and Faith were snuggled together on the loveseat.

Everyone felt like a party was in order: Adam was dead, the Initiative was nowhere to be found, school was over for the semester, and Faith and Buffy were moving into their new apartment the following week.

"I know, I feel like this season has gone really smoothly" Buffy agreed. Faith nodded from her spot next to Buffy and the two slayers exchanged a quick kiss.

"Season?" Tara asked.

"Spring," Buffy explained, "the big bads always seem to come around this time of year."

"Then it always gets real quiet in the summer," Willow added, "nobody's really sure why."

Tara still looked a little puzzled, but nodded. She turned her attention to Willow, whose head was laying peacefully in her lap, and began stroking her hair.

"I hope there isn't going to be some other, bigger bad," Xander mused as he walked into the kitchen to grab some popcorn from the microwave.

"That happens sometimes, too" Willow explained to Tara.

"Hell, we've got a couple slayers, a couple witches, a demon, Giles, and Xander. I'd say we could take on a god if we needed to" Faith joked, making the others laugh.

Xander walked back into the living room and sat a giant bowl of popcorn on the table. "Alright, so who's ready to start the movie marathon?" Xander asked excitedly as he pulled a stack of VHS tapes from his book bag.

"Five by five, s'long as we don't start with a romantic comedy. Dating Buffy these last couple months, I'm pretty sure I've seen _all _of them anyway" Faith said pointedly at her partner.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "as if you even watch them. You just feel me up the entire time."

"Dear God let's not go down that road tonight" Giles pleaded, finishing off his glass of scotch in a quick gulp.

After eventually settling on _Apocalypse Now_, which everyone agreed was the absolute least sexy movie they had, the scoobies settled in. Buffy hopped onto Faith's lap and tightly wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.

"Love you," Buffy murmured into Faith's soft neck.

Faith kissed her gently and whispered "Love you too, B" in return.

Before the credits even started, Buffy was asleep, her head resting comfortably on Faith's shoulder. Faith smiled and tightened the arm she had draped around the little blonde.

Buffy sighed happily in her sleep and snuggled up tighter into her girlfriend's arms. Faith gave the top of Buffy's head a soft kiss and settled down to watch the movie. Glancing around, she noticed that all the others had instantly fallen sleep as well.

"Huh," she said, turning her attention back to Giles' little T.V. just as The Doors song started over the opening sequence.

She managed to snag the popcorn bowl with her free hand without disturbing Buffy, and slowly popped kernels into her mouth as she watched the film.

Once she thought she heard Buffy mumble something in her sleep about a man with cheese on his head, but decided she must have been hearing things.

The End :)


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